Sabre Corporation is suing Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu) for breach of contract, alleging the infringement has had a ripple effect throughout the travel industry and cost the Global Distribution System (GDS) provider unspecified damages but which exceed the USD75,000 threshold needed for a federal court case to be filed.

According to the redacted charge sheet filed on August 30, 2022, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Sabre alleges that Hawaiian's new distribution policy, effective May 31, 2022, has knowingly breached its distribution agreement with Sabre in two ways:

  • by withholding inter-Hawaiian island flights and fares from Sabre; and
  • by charging a USD7 per segment surcharge for bookings by US-based travel agencies that use Sabre.

The GDS provider alleges that Hawaiian Airlines' actions have put Sabre at a competitive disadvantage.

It also claims it has impacted the travel sector in general as it has increased costs to travel agents subscribing to Sabre. Travellers were forced to either pay the surcharge or book a "less-efficient alternative". It points out that Hawaiian Airlines has a large market share of flights to/from the state of Hawaii and dominates the archipelago's inter-island market.

Since May 31, US travel agencies have had to access Hawaiian's inter-island fares through a string of third-party distributors and aggregators approved by the airline, the so-called "HA Connect Approved Partners".

Sabre says as a result of Hawaiian Airlines pulling its inter-island inventory out of Sabre, the number of Hawaiian bookings made through the GDS has fallen substantially and has prejudiced Sabre's profits but an unspecified amount but which exceeds USD75,000.

Sabre seeks to recover the damages suffered due to Hawaiian Airlines' actions and is therefore seeking a trial by jury.

Contacted for comment, a Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman said: "We believe Sabre's claims to be baseless and that we are acting well within our contractual rights as we implement a new distribution strategy replacing dated technology with the modern NDC standard," she said. "We intend to vigorously defend against these claims."