Judge Bags United Airlines ‘Million Miler’ Class Action Lawsuit

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Judge dismisses class action lawsuit over United Million Miler perks, citing insufficient evidence that the airline breached its contract.

A federal judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit accusing United Airlines of “immorally” taking away the benefits of Million Mile club members when it merged with Continental Airlines in 2010, ruling that the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim was not supported by documentation provided during the discovery process.

Plaintiff George Lagen was a so-called “Million Miler” who had traveled so often on United Airlines that he was part of a select group of frequent fliers who received significant benefits that he claims were supposed to last a life. That included automatic first-class bookings among other perks before the airline merged with Continental Airlines in 2010.

After that, he says that he and other United Million Miler program members were downgraded to a membership “including fewer bonus miles for flights, a reduced chance of upgrade, and lower priorities in boarding and seating assignments,” according to the class action lawsuit filed in June 2012.

Judge Harry D. Leinenweber initially allowed the United Million Miler class action lawsuit to proceed based on Lagen’s argument that the contract or implied covenant extended to Million Milers was indeed different from that given to other frequent fliers. However, United alleged that “there was not a separate contract for those achieving the MillionMiler status, and that the actual contract between United and its customers was its ‘MileagePlus’ program which clearly gave United the right unilaterally to reduce or eliminate benefits,” according to his Jan. 23 decision.

Judge Leinenweber further ruled that Lagen was unable to produce a contract that would survive this agreement and that differed from those of any other people taking advantage of the MileagePlus program. The company noted that the contract in place since 1981 allowed United to “withdraw, limit, modify or cancel any award,” among other limits. While Lagen had posited that the Million Miler program was separate, the documentation indicated otherwise and the information he relied upon was not compelling to Judge Leinenweber.

He noted “vague references” alleged by Lagen regarding the program, but noted a more concrete defense for United Airlines in that the “card he did receive… shows that his new status is clearly a status within the MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Program, as does the form letters United sent to applicants advising them of their admission to the MillionMile Flyer program.”

Lagen is represented by class action attorneys John F. Edgar and Michael D. Pospisil of Edgar Law Firm LLC and David H.Latham.

The United Airline Million Mile Club Class Action Lawsuit is George Lagen v. United Continental Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 12-cv-4056, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.