A Cook County Circuit Court judge has granted Travelport’s request for a temporary restraining order, which means that American Airlines cannot terminate its agreement with Orbitz.

Travelport had filed the lawsuit to block American from following through on its threat to stop Orbitz from selling tickets on American’s flights as of Dec. 1. Travelport said the move would breach American’s contract with Orbitz and cause Travelport substantial harm. American called Travelport’s lawsuit “groundless.”

Judge Martin S. Agran granted a temporary restraining order against American on Friday, Nov. 19, saying it could not terminate its agreement with Orbitz until a preliminary hearing that has been scheduled Dec. 2 and 3.

In its motion, filed a week and a half ago, Travelport said that it suffered a $50 million loss because Orbitz shares fell 18 percent in one day after American threatened to pull out of Orbitz.

American responded to the court decision by saying that it will temporarily delay the implementation of the decision to terminate the relationship with Orbitz. The airline pointed out that the temporary restraining order is not final and is designed to give the court and the parties more time to develop and present evidence. It said that, ultimately, it believes the court “will find that our decision to terminate Orbitz is fully consistent with all of our contractual obligations.” Meanwhile, American said it “will continue to pursue our efforts to bring newer technologies and lower costs to the distribution of our product.” For more information, visit www.travelport.com or www.aa.com.