DELAWARE— Air Canada (AC) and its Aeroplan loyalty programme remain locked in a major legal dispute with award search platform Seats.aero, as the case increasingly expands beyond website scraping into broader questions about competition and digital access in the airline industry.
The lawsuit, first filed in October 2023, accuses Seats.aero of illegally harvesting Aeroplan award availability data using automated bots and scraping tools.
Air Canada argues that the practice violates the airline’s website terms, infringes trademarks, and breaches the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Seats.aero, however, has pushed back aggressively. The company now claims Air Canada is attempting to block competition in the growing award-search market and is using litigation to restrict access to publicly available flight reward information.
Air Canada Lawsuit Expands
Air Canada initially sought a preliminary injunction to stop Seats.aero from collecting reward inventory data from Aeroplan systems.
The airline alleged that large-scale scraping activity created heavy traffic loads on its systems and generated downstream requests affecting Star Alliance partner networks.
According to court filings, Air Canada claimed Seats.aero displayed as many as 265,552 Aeroplan-available routes over two days.
The airline argued that automated searches burdened infrastructure, disrupted system stability, and damaged relationships with partner carriers.
The carrier also accused Seats.aero of trademark misuse for displaying Aeroplan branding and the Air Canada logo alongside search results on its platform.
Seats.aero denied causing operational harm and argued that its search activity remained limited and controlled. The company stated that it rate-limited requests and maintained that users searching through its platform could actually reduce traffic on Aeroplan’s own website.
The company also argued that publicly accessible reward data should not fall under unauthorized access restrictions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Seats.aero’s Antitrust Counterclaims
The legal dispute has now evolved into a broader fight over competition in airline loyalty technology services.
Seats.aero recently attempted to file counterclaims accusing Air Canada of antitrust violations, tortious interference, and unfair competition practices.
The company alleges that Air Canada is attempting to monopolize access to award search functionality by restricting third-party tools that help travelers find reward seats more efficiently.
Air Canada has opposed the latest counterclaims, arguing they were introduced too late in the litigation process after discovery and depositions were largely completed. Settlement discussions reportedly stalled earlier this year, and both sides have continued legal proceedings.
The case also carries wider implications for digital aviation services that rely on publicly accessible airline inventory data.
Similar disputes involving fare aggregation, award search tools, and travel metasearch platforms have increased as airlines seek tighter control over distribution systems and customer data access.
Industry Impact
The lawsuit has drawn attention because it touches on how far companies can use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to control online data access. U.S. courts have increasingly narrowed broader interpretations of the law in recent years, especially in cases involving publicly accessible information.
Legal analysts note that several courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, have previously ruled that scraping publicly available websites does not automatically violate federal computer fraud laws.
However, those rulings may not directly control the Delaware case involving Air Canada and Seats.aero, View from the Wing flagged.
The trademark portion of the lawsuit could also prove significant for travel technology companies.
Air Canada argues that Seats.aero improperly used airline branding and logos in its search results interface, while the award search platform maintains that there is little risk of customer confusion.
Seats.aero is now led by Chris Lopinto, founder of ExpertFlyer, a long-established aviation data and fare monitoring service widely used by frequent travelers and industry professionals.
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