Almost forgotten in recent months due to various other battles between American Airlines and the GDSs, but a case surrounding the airline's fares on Orbitz has also been ticking over for the best part of ten months.
The saga returned again today, with Travelport triumphant after a court in the US state of Illinois preserved the tech firm's injunction against AA from June 2011.
The saga dates back to late-2010 when Travelport sued and moved for a temporary restraining order to stop American Airlines pulling its fares from Orbitz, the online travel agency in which the GDS has a 48% share.
A court overturned the decision in December, effectively removing the airline's fares from Orbitz but also triggering support from rival GDSs such as Sabre and eventually leading to Expedia showing unusual solidarity and wiping the carrier off its system.
In February this year, Orbitz CEO Barney Harford admitted losing American's fares from the OTA had impacted on its financial results, but the blockade remained.
The ruling was finally overturned in June, at a court in Illinois, with the airline's fares placed back on Orbitz and sister agency Orbitz for Business.
The latest decision came about after AA appealed the June decision, but also comes just six weeks after the airline secured a separate agreement with Orbitz to include its fares on the OTA "into 2012".
Nevertheless, Travelport is claiming yet another victory.
Travelport chief legal officer and chief administrative officer, Eric Bock, says:
"We are very pleased with the Appellate Court’s recognition of our contractual rights. Those rights are critical to protecting our agencies’ ability to have and fully use AA’s content."
An AA official says via email:
"We are disappointed by the Illinois court decision, and are evaluating our options. In the meantime, the injunction issued against American terminated by its own terms on September 1.
"We have a new interim agreement with Travelport that provides for our continued participation in Orbitz, and we do not expect that to change in the near term."
American Airlines has the opportunity to appeal the ruling, so victory is not total just yet.