American Airlines settles ‘rogue’ ticketing lawsuit against Kiwi

American Airlines has settled a lawsuit accusing web platform Kiwi of being a “rogue online travel agent” that used deceptive practices to sell tickets without American’s consent. American said in a filing in Fort Worth, Texas, federal court on Tuesday that it had reached a confidential agreement with Kiwi and was dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice, which means that the claims cannot be refiled. American had monetary damages and a court-ordered injunction for alleged unfair competition practices and other law violations. Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed in Tuesday's filing. American and Miami-based Kiwi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Kiwi entity based in the Czech Republic was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit and identified as the owner and operator of the company's ticketing website. Kiwi was authorized as an American Airlines travel agent from 2018 to 2020 to sell tickets to American’s passengers, according to the lawsuit. American said it later terminated its agency agreement with Kiwi over "unauthorized and abusive sales activities." The lawsuit said Kiwi subsequently and without approval continued to use “American’s valuable and proprietary fare, schedule and inventory content.”<br/>