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Show Sunday. March 7. 1993 THE HERALD, Provo. Utah. l‘ap t .1 With suit pending, American Airlines alters fare announcements By TOM BELDEN Knight-Riddpr Newspapers American Airlines is trying to enlist public support in its battle against a Justice Department price fixing lawstnt that the airlines and other travel—industry groups contend will hurt travelers ability to get the latest information on air fares. American said last week that the lawsuit. in which it is a defendant along with seven other major LIS. airlines. had prompted it to radi~ cally alter its practice of proy'iding information to reporters who are writing or broadcasting stories about air fares. American said it would continue to fight the suits allegation that it and the other airlines used their computerized reservations systems to fix ticket prices and discourage discounting. in the meantime. with the suit hanging over its corporate head. American will no longer answer most questions from reporters about fare increases or decreases unless it has advertised the information widely in the media. spokesman Tim Smith said. That is the only way" American figures it can comply with guidelines on disseminating fare infor- mation that have been made part of a consent decree pending in US. District Court in Washington. Smith said. United Airlines and USAir have agreed to settle the Justice Depart» ment's charges. while six other carriers — Alaska Airlines. American. Continental Airlines. Delta Air Lines. Northwest Airlines and Trans World Airlines — have not. The complex dispute stems from a three-year Justice Department antitrust investigation that culminated in the government‘s filing of the price-fixing suit in December. traycl agencies and the public One practice. for instance. is for an airline to put a fare increase \th a future starting date into the house computer. which then rcdts» tributes them to the computer systems owned by each carrier. system and then wait to see wheth— T0 the airlines and to travel agents. w ho also are staunchly op- posed to the pending consent dc» cree. the central clearinghouse is a fast. efficient way to get informa— tion about the myriad fares and posed increases actually are . trial hallmns aimed at pressur:v.,~ passengers into buying tickets t amid increases that aren't going take place any w ay The lawyers also say airlzitc. have used the system to signal when they don‘t like a discount fare that one carrier has put in That has been done by .1 second er competitors will match it. L‘n— less the other major airlines also raise their prices. however. the first carrier almost always pulls the increase offthe market. airline proposing an etch loucr discount price. in which case both Justice Department lawyers contend that many of these pro- ture pncmg Intentions to coiiipct. tors. of the carriers thcn withdraw tl'ic fares. The lawyers say that tha' constitutes illegal signaling of it! . ' a - = y iiiUsly used the system to discourage fare discounting and to fix prices. changes daily into the clearing— reservations systems to inform And lawsuit says airlines have netar» inghouse. the Airline 'ltiritf Pub» lishing Co.. to limit fare competition. Airlines put thousands of fare attacking the way airlines use their Elbe Daft!) Revolt schedules ofall airlines, But the Justice Department‘s about fare changes JUsticc Department lawyers say that airlines haw conspired to use theirjoint computeri/cd farc- clear- . r:~ is". g s {3‘ M" . \ ‘ y ”7‘ "£1; 5'1“”. ‘g‘lii: 1:32“; m’.‘ Vat“ (V, ‘11.“: \ ‘ ( r PRINCESS CRUISES I. Invite You On A VOYAGE OF THE GLACIERS IN 1993 an fwh Cruise from Seward, Alaska across the Gulf of Alaska to College Fjord in Prince William Sound and then the entire length of Inside Passage with stops at Skagway, Juneau and Kctchikan. 7 Days of wonderful, scenic cruising aboard your Princess Love Boat, the Sky Princess. . You’ll see more glaciers than any other Alaska cruise while enjoying the most fabulous continental cuisine or relaxing in your attractive cabin. double occupancy. Cabins start at . . . I ::::NII|1|IIII‘IIIII 77 “‘i‘ . nun ' y . y . runner m. fillernnnnnrr, an 1 it”! "lulu-unl -lli fj loi ’ r’n‘ acvol/regs!ironclv 'aoqaoorru-onu ‘ " . 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