American Airlines, Inc. V. Skiplagged, Inc.

Case Background

On August 17, 2023, Plaintiff American Airlines filed a Copyright Infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court, Texas Northern(Case number: 4:23cv860). Judge Mark Pittman presided over the case.

Cause

American Airlines, a major U.S. airline, filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged, Inc., a ticket booking website, for engaging in unauthorized and deceptive ticketing practices. Skiplagged was not an authorized agent of American Airlines but positioned itself as a middleman between American and consumers. Without permission, Skiplagged accessed American's website, AA.com, to obtain real-time fare, schedule, and inventory information. It then displayed this proprietary data and sold American Airlines tickets on its own website, Skiplagged.com. Skiplagged heavily advertised "hidden city" fares, a practice where passengers booked flights with layovers but intentionally ended their journey at the layover city. This practice violated American's contract of carriage. Skiplagged not only promoted these fares but also provided detailed instructions to customers on how to conceal this practice from the airline. Skiplagged frequently misrepresented fares, claiming to offer lower prices than American's direct bookings. However, in many cases, Skiplagged charged consumers more than they would have paid by booking directly with American, due to added fees or redirecting customers to third-party sites with higher prices. This bait-and-switch tactic deceived consumers and violated Department of Transportation regulations on fare advertising. Furthermore, Skiplagged extensively used American's trademarks and copyrighted material, including the American Airlines logo and flight symbol, without authorization. This unauthorized use appeared on Skiplagged's website, in customer communications, and in marketing materials. Skiplagged also created hyperlinks to AA.com, violating the site's terms of use.

Injuries

American Airlines suffered significant rep