Orbitz Worldwide revealed several months ago that it renewed its contract with ITA Softwarefor airfare searches on Orbitz and CheapTickets, but what wasn't known until today is that OWW's U.S. sites will begin migrating a percentage of bookings to Travelport's rival e-Pricing solution before the end of 2011.
In a Travelport financial filing today, the company, which owns 48% of Orbitz Worldwide, indicated that Orbitz Worldwide will begin using Travelport e-Pricing for a minimum percentage of airfare searches on domestic consumer websites [Orbitz and CheapTickets] before the end of 2011 and running through 2014.
Travelport didn't reveal the precise percentage, but it is believed to be in the single digits, at least during 2011.
The e-Pricing agreement between Travelport and Orbitz Worldwide, which was ITA Software's first customer, was signed in February and was contingent on the Google-ITA Software deal closing.
As part of the Travelport-Orbitz agreement, e-Pricing must perform "equal to or better than the ITA airfare search solution in all material respects" when tested by Orbitz.
So, on the hotly debated question of whether there really are viable alternatives to ITA in the U.S. market, Travelport is confident that its home-grown e-Pricing airfare search solution will meet the test.
With ITA Software now in the Google fold, it was practically inevitable that some longtime ITA customers would make adjustments.
Unlike Kayak and Expedia, Orbitz Worldwide and Travelport did not join the anti-acquisition forces, but clearly Travelport has an eye to wean Orbitz Worldwide off ITA, if possible.
The Orbitz Worldwide-ITA Software renewal agreement relates to Orbitz and CheapTickets; some of Orbitz Worldwide's international sites use e-Pricing for airfare searches.
In other news from the financial filing, Travelport revealed that it agreed with Orbitz Worldwide that it will begin migrating those ebookers' sites which still use the Amadeus GDS to Travelport's Galileo GDS "as soon as commercially practicable."