Southwest and American Airlines have agreed to settle nationwide litigation by passengers who claim the four largest US carriers along with Continental Airlines and US Airways conspired to decrease capacity, thereby increasing fares on domestic flights. The settling defendants deny that they did anything wrong, have asserted defenses to the claims, and have settled to avoid the burden and expense of litigation. The claim was brought by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP and Hausfeld, LLP.
The settlement classes include persons and entities who purchased air passenger transportation services for flights within the United States and its territories and the District of Columbia from American, Delta, Southwest, United, Continental, or US Airways at any time between July 1, 2011 and December 20, 2017 for the Southwest settlement and between July 1, 2011 and June 14, 2018 for the American settlement.
Southwest has agreed to pay $15 million and American has agreed to pay $45 million. The settling defendants have agreed to provide certain cooperation in the ongoing litigation against the non-settling defendants.
At this time, it is unknown how much class members may receive.
The Court will hold a hearing on March 22, 2019 to consider whether to approve the settlements and a request for attorneys' fees up to 30% of the settlement funds.
More information is available about the Settlement Classes on the website, www.DomesticAirClass.com, and in the Long Form Notice accessible on that website, or by calling 1-866-459-3634.