History
Worldspan was formed in early 1990 by Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and TWA to operate and sell its GDS services to travel agencies worldwide. Worldspan operated very effectively and profitably, successfully expanding its business in markets throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. As a result, in mid-2003, Worldspan was sold by its owner airlines to Citigroup Venture Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund[3]which in turn sold the business to Travelport in 2007.
Worldspan was formed in 1990 by combining the PARS partnerships companies (owned by TWA and Northwest Airlines, Inc.) and DATAS II, a division of Delta Air Lines, Inc. One of Worldspan’s predecessors – TWA PARS – became the first GDS to be installed in travel agencies in 1976. ABACUS, an Asian company owned by a number of Asian airlines, owned a small portion of Worldspan, and Worldspan owned a small portion of Abacus. Worldspan and Abacus entered into a series of business and technology relationships. These relationships were terminated after Abacus engaged in fraudulent and deceptive practices, for which Worldspan received a sizable judgement in an arbitration in London.