Travel Agents Seek U.S. Probe of Airline Site

Making a desperate strike to keep their industry alive as the Internet eats away at their livelihoods, the nation’s travel agents Thursday demanded a federal antitrust investigation against major airlines that are creating a jointly operated Web site for consumers to book fares.

In a complaint to the Justice Department, the American Society of Travel Agents said the planned Web site would shut out travel agents and lead to price-fixing of air fares.

“We look at this like Frankenstein’s monster,” said Paul Ruden, a spokesman for the group. “You have to stop it before it comes alive.”

The Web site, formed by Continental Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, has not yet been launched. But since it was announced in November, the site has attracted more than 20 other domestic and foreign carriers, which say they will post fares and schedules.

It is supposed to begin operating this spring.

In a few short years, the Internet has transformed travel by putting fare and scheduling information into the hands of consumers, who can research and book flights and hotel rooms, prowl for unadvertised specials or bid at auction for travel and lodging bargains with a click of a mouse.

Yet nearly all travel arrangements still are booked through agents, and travel experts say their knowledge and ability to save customers time remains highly valuable for business trips and complex vacation packages.

But a battle has escalated between the agents and the airlines, which increasingly have reduced and capped agents’ commissions for air bookings while attempting to capture a larger share of direct ticket sales over the Internet.

Most airlines already operate their own Web sites where travelers can make reservations, and now the specter of a joint Web site would give consumers one-stop shopping for fares and potentially eliminate the need for agents, the agents fear.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the agents’ claim except to say: “We will consider it.”

Acknowledging that travel agents must provide more services in the Internet Age, Ruden said, “They’re clearly in jeopardy. Technology is changing things.”

But he said he feared the airlines, like other Internet businesses, were prepared to endure losses initially to gain more clout later on--and then would raise prices to compensate.

The airlines and the Web site’s operators said the site will be a separate business, giving consumers another information source, and will be run without meddling from the carriers.

“This [planned] site is really an independent Web site being run independently,” United spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said.

But Ada Brown, an agent at Seaside Travel in Long Beach, said she fears the proposed Web site could become a de facto cartel for the air carriers involved, potentially allowing them to collude on price hikes on fares between the same cities.

“If insurance companies or car companies or any other industry tried to all join together in a Web site, it would be considered an antitrust violation,” she said.

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Times correspondent Stephen Gregory contributed to this report.