United Airlines Must Face COVID-19 Ticket Refund Class Action, Judge Rules

United Airlines can’t shake a lawsuit claiming it breached customer contracts when it offered credits instead of full flight refunds in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a judge has ruled.

On Friday, Illinois Federal Judge Thomas Durkin partially denied United’s motion to dismiss claims brought by named plaintiffs Jacob Rudolph, Mark Hansen and Jason Buffer in a consolidated proposed class action lawsuit, stating most of the passenger’s claims can go ahead. 

Rudolph, Hansen and Buffer, who each had slightly different travel situations with United, say they should have gotten full refunds from the airline when their flights were canceled in March last year during the pandemic, instead of travel credits.

United filed a motion arguing it wasn’t improperly denying customers refunds as the passengers’ canceled flights qualified under a “force majeure event” clause in its contract of carriage, and therefore they only needed to issue credits, not refunds. 

The airline defined a force majeure as unique occurrences that physically prohibited it from operating flights, as doing so would expose passengers to a substantial risk of bodily harm. Customers are entitled to a travel credit but not a refund if United cancels a flight due to a force majeure event. 

However, if a cancellation is due to a “schedule change” or “irregular operations,” and affected passengers are not rebooked on another flight within the contractually required timeframe, then United must give a refund “upon request.” 

The travelers countered that United hadn’t canceled their flights due to force majeure, but “pure economics.” They allege that United canceled their flights to save on operating expenses, even advising investors and the SEC it would be canceling flights until it saw “signs of a recovery in demand.” 

Judge Durkin said in his opinion that there must be some point where a force majeure event ends, and a schedule change or irregular operation begins, and to the extent that the boundary is unclear he would have to rule in the plaintiffs’ favor.

“Even assuming COVID-19 and/or the related restrictions United cites qualify as Force Majeure Events, that is not enough to excuse United from offering a refund for flights it cancels. Those events also must have directly and proximately caused the cancellations,” Durkins stated in the order . 

He also said that the court mostly agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that reading a “Force Majeure Event” as broadly as United had would “eviscerate” the schedule change and irregular operations provisions, meaning that any change “unforeseen or beyond United’s control” would disqualify affected passengers from receiving refunds.

The judge also denied United’s move to force Hansen to arbitrate his claims because he booked his airline tickets through online travel agency Expedia. 

Hansen argued that he could, in fact, bring a claim thanks to U.S. Department of Transportation regulations stating that transport carriers can’t impose contracts precluding customers from bringing claims in court.

“Nevertheless, the Court agrees with Mr. Hansen that United should not be permitted to do indirectly what federal regulations prohibit it from doing directly, particularly given the regulation’s purpose to provide protections to consumers,” Durkin wrote.

Rudolph launched the class action lawsuit in April, with Hansen and Buffer joining later as named plaintiffs, Law 360 reported. They alleged in a consolidated amended complaint in July that United’s refusal to issue COVID-19-related refunds to passengers whose flights were canceled violated federal guidance, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, as well as the consumer protection laws of the other 49 states. 

Has you booked a flight with United Airlines that was canceled or rescheduled? Share your experience in the comments below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Bryan L. Clobes, Daniel O. Herrera and Nickolas J. Hagman of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, Steve W. Berman, Daniel J. Kurowski and Whitney K. Siehl of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Joseph G. Sauder and Joseph B. Kenney of Sauder Schelkopf LLC.

The United COVID-19 Refund Class Action Lawsuit is Jacob Rudolph et al. v. United Airlines Holdings Inc. et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-02142, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

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