American Airlines Passengers Seek Cert. in Refund Policy Class Action Lawsuit

An Arizona man suing American Airlines over its refund policy – or refund denial policy – for flights cancelled due to COVID-19, is asking the court to certify the case as a class action lawsuit.

Lawyers for lead plaintiff Lee Ward and two other American Airlines customers submitted the request for class certification to Judge Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth on Oct. 29.

They say there are thousands of potential Class Members in the same situation, all of whom were denied refunds for flights they paid for, but the airline cancelled. Instead, American has offered vouchers that can be applied to the purchase of future flights.

The customers could file separate lawsuits and sue American Airlines as individuals, offering the same evidence and raising the same legal issues, but that would clog the court system and cost more, Ward’s lawyers argued.

Ward and fellow plaintiffs James Saunders and William Holloway filed the lawsuit in April, about six weeks after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and all but grounded every flight, foreign and domestic.

Starting March 12, federal officials issued travel bans that blocked most visitors from continental Europe to the United States. Domestic travel restrictions began four days later, on March 16, limiting the number of flights to a bare minimum for weeks. Travel restrictions were also placed on Americans, with several other countries barring entry of those traveling from the U.S. Many of those bans remain in place today, including in most of Europe.

Ward had purchased tickets for multiple flights that American Airlines canceled, including one that was supposed to return him to the U.S. from Peru on March 31, he said. That cancellation forced him to purchase another ticket for a flight on another airline, but when Ward later requested a refund from American Airlines, he was only offered a travel voucher. The voucher was less valuable than a refund of the ticket price, he claims.

Saunders and Holloway bought tickets for American Airline flights through Hotwire and Expedia. By accepting the terms and conditions on those travel booking websites at the point of purchase, they agreed to settle any disputes through mandatory arbitration or in small claims court, American says. The airline filed a motion to compel the plaintiffs to arbitration in August. Judge O’Connor has not yet ruled on it.

American Airlines is not the only airline with a refund policy that called for travel vouchers to be offered instead of reimbursement for cancelled flights during the pandemic.

The practice became so controversial the U.S. Department of Transportation twice issued warnings to the airlines reminding them of their obligation to refund passengers for cancelled or significantly delayed flights.

When the first warning went out, in April, the department said it had already gotten more than 25,000 complaints about denied refunds.

Lawsuits like Ward’s proposed class action lawsuit have been filed against numerous online travel booking agencies and major airlines since March. According to The USA Today, the transportation department’s refund requirement is vague in its wording, and “some are using that lack of clear guidance as a way to get out of issuing refunds.”

Has American Airlines’ refund policy of offering vouchers instead of reimbursement for flights the airline cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic cost you money? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Ward and the rest of the potential Class Members are represented by Daniel J. Kurowski, Whitney K. Siehl and Steve W. Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Allen R. Vaught of Vaught Firm, LLC; and E. Adam Webb and G. Franklin Lemond Jr. of Webb, Klase & Lemond, LLC.

The American Airlines Refund Policy Class Action Lawsuit is Lee Ward v. American Airlines Inc., Case No. 4:20-cv-00371, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division

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