FORT WORTH — American Airlines rested Wednesday in its federal civil suit against Skiplagged Inc., an online promoter of the practice, frowned upon by airlines, known as “hidden city” ticketing.
U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman said the case could go to the jury by next Tuesday.
Hidden city ticketing, also known as “skiplagging,” lets a traveler save money in some instances by booking a flight with a layover in her true intended destination, where she exits at the layover airport and skips the remaining connecting flight or flights.
American’s suit claims Skiplagged Inc.’s unauthorized use of the carrier’s trademarks on its site falsely leads consumers to believe Skiplagged is an authorized American agent or a booking site otherwise affiliated with the airline. Authorized American partners, such as Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz and Travelocity, are prohibited by their contracts with the airline from offering hidden city flights.
On Wednesday, Skiplagged’s founder and CEO, Aktarer Zaman, testified that airlines have been charging high fares for decades “because they can.” The fare information presented on his site, he said, is intended to let travelers know there are cheaper ways to get where they want to go, notably through hidden city bookings.
“I just wanted to create something that gives consumers choice,” he said, under questioning by Skiplagged’s lead attorney in the case, William L. Kirkman of Fort Worth.
Zaman, a computer-science graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, testified that he created the Skiplagged website platform more than 10 years ago, then, over the years, successfully built it into a multimillion-dollar business. Since 2018, he said, about 1.4 million travelers have booked flights on American through Skiplagged. Depending on precisely how a Skiplagged user completes a ticket purchase, Skiplagged can collect a service fee or commission on the ticketing.
The 32-year-old entrepreneur said he never heard a peep from American Airlines about the use of its trademarks until the airline sued his company in August 2023.
In his opening statement to the jury Monday, one of Skiplagged’s defense lawyers, Aaron Z. Tobin of Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg in Dallas, told jurors American’s long silence led Zaman to believe the airline had no objection to his company’s use of American’s trademarks.
“For eight years, they sat on the sidelines,” Tobin said. “They did nothing and said nothing.”
Cross-examined by Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman in Houston, one of American’s lead attorneys, Zaman acknowledged that Skiplagged didn’t remove the American Airlines logo from its site until this past summer — 10 months after American filed its suit. To this day, Yetter said, another American trademark — the very name “American Airlines” — remains visible on Skiplagged’s site.
Zaman was the first defense witness called by Skiplagged after American rested Wednesday afternoon. He was also the first witness called by American when testimony began Monday.
At the conclusion of Wednesday’s court session, Kirkman said the defense could wrap up its case Thursday.
With Friday largely devoted to finalizing the jury charge, and Monday a federal holiday, Columbus Day, closing arguments and the start of jury deliberations could take place Tuesday, Judge Pittman said.
In addition to Kirkman and Tobin, lawyers for Skiplagged include Darin M. Klemchuk of Dallas.
In addition to Yetter, American Airlines is represented by, among others, Dee J. Kelly Jr. and Lars L. Berg of Kelly Hart in Fort Worth; and Bina B. Palnitkar and Cameron Nelson of Greenberg Traurig in Dallas and Chicago, respectively.
The case number in the Northern District of Texas is 4:23-cv-00860.