American Airlines Group has agreed to pay $45 million to end a consumer antitrust lawsuit that accused it and three other US airlines of colluding to limit plane capacity and drive up domestic airfares. American denies the allegations and, in settling, admitted no wrongdoing.
American “dramatically increased” domestic capacity during the period covered by the claims, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed. As passenger traffic has increased, fares have fallen to near all-time lows in an “intensely competitive” U.S. airline industry, he said.
“Despite our firm conviction in the appropriateness of our actions, costs to defend against antitrust litigation often run into the tens of millions of dollars,” he said. “So while it is difficult to agree to a settlement when we believe we were right on the law and the facts, settling this case is a prudent decision for American.”
The case is In re Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation, 15-mc-1404, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).