Orbitz Stock Price Drops After American Airlines Pulls Its Fares

Travelers searching for flights on online travel agency Orbitz.com will no longer see American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) or US Airways fares in its search results. The airline withdrew its fares from sites powered by Orbitz (NYSE:OWW) on Tuesday, American Airlines Group said in a statement.

Investors aren’t responding well to the news: Orbitz shares fell by 6.6 percent by mid-day Tuesday and continued to drop

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"We have worked tirelessly with Orbitz to reach a deal with the economics that allow us to keep costs low and compete with low-cost carriers," Scott Kirby, American Airlines president, said in a statement. "While our fares are no longer on Orbitz, there are a multitude of other options available for our customers, including brick and mortar agencies, online travel agencies, and our own websites."

Corporate clients who use Orbitz for business to book travel would not be impacted.

In addition to Orbitz.com, the company also runs airfare booking sites CheapTickets.com in North America and ebookers.com in Europe.

It is unclear why American, the largest U.S. air carrier after its merger with US Airways, made the move. Neither American Airlines nor Orbitz immediately returned International Business Times’ request for comment.