American Airlines Inc v. Travelport Limited et al

Filing 407

ORDER GRANTING #394 MOTION TO STAY AND EXTEND... Defendants' answers to American's second amended complaint will be due no later than January 11, 2013; Travelport's deadline for filing a motion for reconsideration of the Court's August 16, 2012 Order Granting Motion to Dismiss (doc. 386) or a motion for leave to file additional counterclaims will be January 11, 2013; The parties' responses to all pending written discovery will be due no later than January 11, 2013; All depositions must be completed no later than January 25, 2013; Defendants' expert reports must be served no later than February 8, 2013; Plaintiff's rebuttal reports must be served no later than February 22, 2013; All pretrial and dispositive motions will be due no later than March 22, 2013. (Ordered by Judge Terry R Means on 9/6/2012) (klm)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH DIVISION
AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

§
§
§
§
§

VS.
TRAVELPORT LIMITED, et al.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:11-CV-244-Y

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO STAY AND EXTEND
Before the Court is the Joint Motion to Stay the Case and
Extend Current Deadlines Pending Mediation (doc. 394) filed by
plaintiff
Travelport

American
Limited

Airlines,
and

Inc.

(“American”);

Travelport,

L.P.

defendants

(collectively,

“Travelport”); and defendant Orbitz Worldwide, LLC (“Orbitz”). The
movants seek an order staying this case pending their upcoming
mediation, which is scheduled for December 12-13, 2012.

Such a

stay is necessary, the movants contend, so that they “can focus
their efforts on mediation and potential resolution of this case.”
(Mot. 1.)

Defendants Sabre Inc., Sabre Holdings Corporation, and

Sabre Travel International Limited (“Sabre”) oppose this motion and
insist that they will suffer prejudice if the movants’ requested
stay is granted.
After review, the Court concludes that a brief stay is
appropriate. As an initial matter, the Court notes that two of the
three sets of defendants in this case are in favor of American’s
proposed stay.

In addition, the Court notes that the stay may

prevent American, Travelport, and Orbitz from having to conduct
further depositions of their executives.1
Lastly, the Court observes that no unfair prejudice will
befall Sabre as a result of the parties’ proposed stay.

Sabre

contends that it is entitled to efficient resolution of its
counterclaims. And the Court is sympathetic to this right. At the
same time, however, Sabre only recently filed its counterclaims
despite having received the bankruptcy court’s permission to do so
some time ago.
brief

stay

In light of this, the Court is confident that a

will

not

cause

Sabre

any

significant

or

unfair

prejudice.
Accordingly, the instant motion is GRANTED. All claims in the
above-styled and -numbered cause are STAYED pending American,
Travelport, and Orbitz’s upcoming mediation.

See In re Ramu, 903

F.2d 312, 318 (5th Cir. 1990) (“The stay of a pending matter is
ordinarily within the trial court’s wide discretion to control the
course of litigation.”); see also Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S.
248, 254 (1936) (noting that a court has “inherent” power to stay
proceedings). The stay automatically expires on December 21, 2012.
At that time, the following deadlines will take effect:
(1)

1

Defendants’ answers to American’s second amended
complaint will be due no later than January 11, 2013;

Sabre apparently
depositions that remain.

is

not

set

2

to

participate

in

the

numerous

(2)

Travelport’s
deadline
for
filing
a
motion
for
reconsideration of the Court’s August 16, 2012 Order
Granting Motion to Dismiss (doc. 386) or a motion for
leave to file additional counterclaims will be
January 11, 2013;

(3)

The parties’ responses to all pending written discovery
will be due no later than January 11, 2013;

(4)

All depositions must
January 25, 2013;

(5)

Defendants’ expert reports must be served no later than
February 8, 2013;

(6)

Plaintiff’s rebuttal reports must be served no later than
February 22, 2013;

(7)

All pretrial and dispositive motions will be due no later
than March 22, 2013.

be

completed

no

later

than

SIGNED September 6, 2012.

____________________________
TERRY R. MEANS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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