If you've flown on an airplane with a major airliner in the past seven years, pay close attention to your emails, as you might be receiving information about a class action lawsuit.
A class action lawsuit was filed against Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines. It accused these airlines of limiting the number of seats available on a plane to raise ticket prices.
While American Airlines settled for $45 million and Southwest settled for $15 million, both airlines deny having done what the lawsuit states. Delta and United have yet to settle.
Passengers who flew on these airlines may soon be contacted by email or learn of the news on social media.
Travelers could receive compensation, but since so many people have flown with the airlines, it most likely won't be a lot of money and will depend on multiple factors like how many tickets a traveler bought, attorney fees, and how much Delta and United will eventually settle for.
To be eligible for compensation, a traveler would have had to have flown with Southwest between July 1, 2011, and December 20, 2017, or with American Airlines between July 1, 2011, and June 14, 2018.
To receive a settlement payout, passengers have to file a valid claim form when the claim period opens. There is a website that offers more information about the suit and a registration form to be notified about filing a claim.
"We continue to deny, without qualification, that American participated in any such agreement, and the settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing," American said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The facts show that American dramatically increased domestic capacity during the period covered by the complaint while taking delivery of hundreds of new aircraft, giving it the youngest fleet of the U.S. network carriers."
A United spokesperson echoed American, telling NBC station WESH: "We will continue to defend ourselves against these claims, which we have always maintained are without merit."
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