JetBlue to list flights on Expedia

JetBlue Airways Corp. will begin listing flights on Expedia Inc., the world's biggest online travel agency, the carrier's first long-term online agreement.

JetBlue will list flights on Expedia and unit Hotwire for five years, the companies said last week.

JetBlue in August began selling flights to offline travel agencies through Sabre Holdings Corp. and is on a testing basis with Sabre's Travelocity.com, the No. 2 U.S. online travel agency, JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin said in an interview.

JetBlue, which trails Southwest Airlines Co. among U.S. low-cost carriers, is trying to boost sales after two straight years of losses and winter operating problems that caused the airline to cancel almost 1,700 flights, stranding more than 130,000 passengers. The company this month replaced Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman with President David Barger after revenue grew at its slowest rate in more than two years.

"This is a clear sign of softening demand" for JetBlue, said Henry Harteveldt, a San Francisco-based analyst for Forrester Research. "Expedia has massive reach."

Earlier this month, Southwest signed a 10-year contract to sell tickets through the Galileo distribution service, owned by Travelport Ltd., to help win more business customers using travel agencies. Southwest, based in Dallas, doesn't sell tickets on Web sites other than its own.

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Contributing: Mary Schlangenstein; Susanna Ray