Orbitz Worldwide undoubtedly had a lot at stake when Travelport sweated out restructuring its own debt.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's says that absent a restructuring, Travelport might have tried "to extract financial resources from Orbitz that could, in turn, pressure Orbitz's liquidity and covenant compliance."
Travelport and The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, own 55% of Orbitz and control its destiny.
The strong implication is that if push came to shove, then Orbitz's financial condition would have taken a further hit.
However, with Travelport having succeeded in restructuring its debt, Standard & Poor's took Orbitz Worldwide off CreditWatch status and now rates Orbitz a "B."
The ratings agency believes Orbitz's operating results will be "somewhat weak" going forward because of competitive pressures, the ongoing, multi-year project to migrate its global brands to a common technology platform, and increased marketing expenses.
Expedia, too, is earnestly involved in migrating brands to a global tech platform, while Priceline has abstained.
Standard & Poor's notes that Orbitz is one of the largest online travel agency's in the U.S.
"Outside the U.S., however, its market position is significantly weaker than those of Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline.com," S&P says.
Meanwhile, Orbitz still is weighed down by its debt, although CEO Barney Harford says the company has made strides in deleveraging.
Says Standard & Poor's: "We view Orbitz's financial profile as highly leveraged, mainly due to its ownership linkage to Travelport and The Blackstone Group."
As of the end of September, Orbitz's lease-adjusted leverage stood at 3.8x, up from 3.3x in 2010, the ratings agency says.