American Airlines' lawsuit against bargain site could go to jury by Tuesday

FORT WORTH – American Airlines rested its federal civil lawsuit Wednesday against Skiplagged Inc., an online marketer of a practice frowned upon by airlines known as “hidden city” ticketing.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman said the case could go to a jury by next Tuesday.

Through hidden city ticketing, also known as “skiplagging,” a traveler can in some cases save money by booking a flight with a stopover at their actual destination, getting off at the intermediate airport and skipping the remaining connecting flight(s).

American's lawsuit alleges that Skiplagged Inc.'s unauthorized use of the carrier's trademarks on its website falsely misled consumers into believing that Skiplagged was an authorized American agent or a booking site otherwise affiliated with the in Fort Worth-based transportation company. Authorized American partners such as Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz and Travelocity are prohibited from offering hidden city flights due to their contracts with the airline.

On Wednesday, Aktarer Zaman, founder and CEO of Skiplagged, testified that airlines have been charging high fares for decades “because they can.” The pricing information presented on its website is intended to inform travelers that there are cheaper ways to get to their destination, particularly through hidden bookings in cities.

“I just wanted to create something that gave consumers choice,” he said in an interview with William Kirkman of Fort Worth, Skiplagged’s lead attorney in the case.

Zaman, a computer science graduate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said he created the Skiplagged website platform more than a decade ago and then successfully grew it into a multimillion-dollar company over the years. Since 2018, he said, about 1.4 million travelers have booked American flights through Skiplagged. Depending on exactly how a Skiplagged user completes a ticket purchase, Skiplagged may charge a service fee or commission.

The 32-year-old entrepreneur said he never heard of American Airlines using its trademarks until the airline sued his company in August 2023.

In his opening statement to the jury on Monday, one of Skiplagged's defense attorneys, Aaron Tobin of Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg in Dallas, told jurors that American's long silence led Zaman to believe that the airline had no objection to its use trademark of American through his company.

“For eight years they sat on the sidelines,” Tobin said. “They did nothing and said nothing.”

Under cross-examination by Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman in Houston, Zaman admitted that Skiplagged did not remove the American Airlines logo from its website until this summer – 10 months after American filed its lawsuit. Even today, Yetter said, another American trademark – the name “American Airlines” – is visible on Skiplagged’s website.

Zaman was the first defense witness called by Skiplagged after the American took a break on Wednesday afternoon. He was also the first witness the American called at the start of testimony on Monday.

At the conclusion of Wednesday's court hearing, Kirkman said the defense could wrap up its case Thursday.

Because Friday is largely devoted to the jury's final decision on charges and Monday is a federal holiday, Columbus Day, closing arguments and the start of jury deliberations could take place on Tuesday, the judge said.

The Texas Lawbook is an online news publication focused on business law in Texas. For more information on this and other legal news, please visit texaslawbook.net.

The CEO says they used American Airlines logos to market tickets without permission

The CEO and founder of Skiplagged Inc., a website that promotes the practice known in the airline industry as “hidden city ticketing,” testified Monday that his company used American Airlines' brand logos without permission for years and directed passengers to the company's website airline to purchase tickets even though Skiplagged is not an authorized ticket broker of American Airlines and has warned its customers not to mention that they purchased their tickets through Skiplagged.

Gap at the stopover? The American Airlines travel hack process begins Monday in Fort Worth

Next week in federal court in Fort Worth, American Airlines plans to challenge a popular fare trick known as “skiplagging,” favored by some passengers but not airlines.