American Airlines, US Airways will stop listing on Orbitz

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines and US Airways are pulling flight listings from Orbitz-run websites in a long-running dispute over fees the travel company charges to list and sell the flights.

Shares of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. fell nearly 5 percent on Tuesday.

American said that it had already dropped its fares from Orbitz, and that US Airways listings would be pulled on Monday.

Corporate customers of the airlines will still be able to book travel through Orbitz, but individuals will have to go to the airlines' websites or other travel agents, including online rivals of Orbitz such as Expedia Inc.

American's withdrawal extends to Orbitz's other websites, such as CheapTickets and European-based ebookers.com. Those sites, however, were still selling seats on American flights that were listed by American's so-called code-sharing partners, including British Airways and Japan Airlines.

Because of that quirk, and the fact that corporate travel will be unaffected, the impact of American's decision is likely to be felt mostly by Orbitz customers booking leisure travel within the U.S.