Bird Travel Firm Loses Right to Sell Tickets for 3 Airlines

Bird Enterprises, the high-flying concern that at one time claimed to be Ventura County’s largest independently owned travel firm, has been stripped of its right to sell tickets for the nation’s three largest airlines.

And, in the wake of a discount ticketing dispute with American, United and Delta airlines, President Maggie Bird apparently has closed the company’s three travel agencies in the county. The Travel Mart in Port Hueneme, Esplanade World Travel in Oxnard and Travel World in Ventura filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition last spring.

The dispute stemmed from the airlines’ contention that the Bird agencies were granting deep, unauthorized discounts to non-government employees. The reductions, normally reserved for federal workers, can cut fares by as much as 50%, an industry source said.

One of the airlines, American, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue because of Bird’s alleged practice, according to Los Angeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, which was representing American Airlines.

Without ruling on the discounting dispute, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edwin M. Osborne issued a summary judgment in December granting the carriers the right to terminate their relationship with the Bird agencies. Bird “has no legal authority” to issue tickets for any of the three carriers, Osborne ruled last fall.

The ruling derailed cross-complaints filed by Maggie Bird, whose firms’ bookings exceeded $5 million as recently as 1992. Bird claimed her agencies couldn’t be terminated “without a showing of good cause.”

“This thing is far from resolved,” Bird declared. “We’re in negotiation. There’s a possibility that we may appeal.”

Bird also said she is talking to prospective buyers of her firm. She said she is now based in Los Angeles, but declined to give details. “We’re definitely still in business.”

However, the phone lines at the Bird offices in Port Hueneme and Ventura were no longer in service. And in Oxnard, an official of another travel firm said his company is moving into the Bird agency’s former space but has no connection with Bird Enterprises.

Scott Edelman, the Gibson, Dunn attorney who represented American in the dispute, said he is not sure whether American Airlines will seek to recover $200,000 in revenue it claims to have lost due to discounts issued by Bird Enterprises. He pointed out that Bird is still protected by its bankruptcy filing.

“The judge’s ruling is extremely important to American and the airline industry in general,” Edelman said. “It means government fares are only for government employees. . . . Travel agencies are not allowed to sell these fares on terms not authorized by the airlines.”