A Chicago judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by United Airlines against a Bangladeshi entrepreneur.
United Airlines and Orbitz filed the lawsuit last month against Aktarer Zaman, who founded the website Skiplagged.com in 2013 for "unfair competition" and "deceptive behavior," alleging that the site promoted "strictly prohibited" travel.
They wanted to reimburse $75,000 in lost revenue from Zaman.
Chicago Judge John Robert Blakey of the Northern District Court of Illinois said the court did not have jurisdiction over the case because Zaman did not live or do business in that city, according to CNNMoney.
Terming the dismissal ‘a definite victory’, Zaman told CNNMoney: "It is pretty amazing...the court just shut them off."
Zaman's Skiplagged.com uses a little-known secret among frequent fliers to help people find cheaper plane tickets.
The basic idea behind Skiplagged is that it takes advantage of something called "hidden city" fares, where it might be cheaper to book a flight with a connection, and then never actually take the second leg of the trip.
Zaman posted on the website on December 30 seeking donations from users of Skiplagged.com to fight the lawsuit.
The site helps travellers find cheap flights by using a strategy called “hidden city” ticketing.
Skiplagged looks for deals where it is cheaper for a person to buy a ticket with a layover at the destination of choice.
Airlines in US apparently charge more for travelling to a major hub but not so much for non-hub destinations. The price is even lower for small towns although they are farther away.
For instance, a ticket from Cox’s Bazaar to Dhaka would cost more than one from Cox’s Bazar to Syedpur since Dhaka is a major hub and Syedpur is a small town. Thus it would be cheaper for the traveller to buy a ticket for Syedpur and get off when the plane lands in Dhaka.
In the US, flights to or from ‘hub’ airports that are dominated by a single carrier, like United — Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; and Denver, Colorado — are 20 to 30 percent higher than at non-hub destinations.
Since he makes no money from the website yet, Zaman raised $79,000 on a crowdfunding site to help pay for lawyers to defend him. Zaman supports himself through savings and loans, but says he might turn to investors once the legal dispute is done for good.