Transpacific Airline Antitrust Class Action Settlement

A $39.5 million price-fixing class action settlement has been reached with eight out of 13 airlines accused of conspiring to fix the prices of airline tickets for travel between the United States and Asia/Oceania. As a result, ticket purchasers may have paid more than necessary.

If you purchased an airline ticket that included at least one flight between the United States and Asia, Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands, and the airline ticket was purchased from Jan. 1, 2000 and the present, you may be eligible for benefits from the transpacific airline class action settlement.

The settling defendants include: Air France, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Vietnam Airlines. However, there are still five non-settling airlines, who are also defendants in this class action lawsuit: Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, China Airlines, EVA Airways and Philippines Airlines.

The consolidated class action lawsuit, called In re Transpacific Passenger Air Transportation Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1913, was filed in 2009, alleging “a long-running, international conspiracy” by several airlines that fly from the United States to Asia and the region to impose “airfair increases, including surcharge increases, on international air passengers that were in substantial lockstep both in timing and amount.” The  class action lawsuit alleged that the airlines violated antitrust laws.

The consolidated transpacific airline class action lawsuit came after several lawsuits were filed against some of the airlines by the U.S. government and investigations by the Justice Department.

The plaintiffs included residents from California, Washington State, New York, Canada and Japan, and the defendants in the initial complaint included 19 airlines.

The airlines in the price-fixing class action lawsuit were charged with violating the The Sherman Act, which includes the federal antitrust laws.

Both the Class Members and the airlines in this class action settlement believe that the terms of the settlement are fair, reasonable, and adequate.

The airlines have agreed to pay $39,502,000 into the settlement fund. There are separate subclasses for each of the named airlines above [see below for more details on who is included in the settlement].

The airlines denies any wrongdoing and say that the class action settlement is not an admission of guilt, but they agreed to the class action settlement to avoid a long and costly legal battle. The price-fixing class action settlement was preliminary approved by a California federal judge on Dec. 15, 2014.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members of the transpacific airline price-fixing class action settlement include all persons and entities who purchased at least one flight segment between the United States and Asia, Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific Islands from the defendants or their co-conspirators, predecessor, subsidiary or affiliate any time from Jan. 1, 2000 and the effective date of the settlement, which is the date when the court has entered judgement and time for appeal has expired.

For the Japan Airlines settlement class, flights originating in the United States and Asia/Oceania will apply. For the other settlement classes, only flights originating in the United States apply.

The Defendants and their co-conspirators are:

• Air New Zealand (Non-Settling Defendant);
• All Nippon Airways Company, Limited (Non-Settling Defendant);
• American Airlines, Inc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Asiana Airlines, Inc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• British Airways, Plc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Settling Defendant);
• China Airlines Limited (Taiwan) (Non-Settling Defendant);
• Continental Airlines, Inc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Delta Airlines, Inc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• EV A Airways Corporation (Non-Settling Defendant);
• The International Air Transport Association (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Japan Airlines International Company, Ltd. (Settling Defendant);
• Korean Airlines, Ltd. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Malaysian Airline System Berhad (Settling Defendant);
• Northwest Airlines Corporation (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Philippine Airlines, Inc. (Non-Settling Defendant);
• Qantas Airways Limited (Settling Defendant);
• Scandinavian Airlines System (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Singapore Airlines Limited (Settling Defendant);
• Societe Air France (Settling Defendant);
• Swiss International AG (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Thai Airways International Public Co., Ltd. (Settling Defendant);
• United Airlines, Inc. (Alleged Co-Conspirator);
• Vietnam Airlines Company Limited (Settling Defendant); and
• Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ltd. (Alleged Co-Conspirator).

The specific details of Class Membership are provided below for each Settlement Class:

JAL Settlement Class:

All persons and entities that purchased passenger air transportation that included at least one flight segment between the United States and Asia or Oceania from Defendants, or any predecessor, subsidiary, or affiliate thereof, at any time between January 1, 2000 and the Effective Date.

Air France/Singapore Airlines/Vietnam Airlines Settlement Class:

All persons and entities that purchased passenger air transportation that included at least one flight segment between the United States and Asia or Oceania from Defendants or their co-conspirators, or any predecessor, subsidiary or affiliate thereof, at any time between January 1, 2000 and the Effective Date.

Thai Airways Settlement Class:

All persons and entities that purchased passengerair transportation that included at least one flight segment between the UnitedStates and Asia or Oceania from Defendants, or any predecessor, subsidiary oraffiliate thereof, at any time between January 1, 2000 and the Effective Date.

MalaysianAir Settlement Class:

All persons and entities that purchased passengerair transportation that included at least one flight segment between the UnitedStates and Asia/Oceania from Defendants or their co-conspirators, or anypredecessor, subsidiary or affiliate thereof, at any time between January 1,2000 and the Effective Date.

Cathay Pacific Airways/Qantas Settlement Class:

All persons and entities that purchased passenger air transportation that included at least one flight segment between the United States and Asia or Oceania from Defendants, or any predecessor, subsidiary or affiliate thereof, at any time between January 1, 2000 and the Effective Date.

Potential Award

Class Members of the transpacific airline settlement are eligible to receive a pro-rata share the settlement fund, but it is not known at this time how much Class Members will receive. The disbursement of the settlement fund will be made at the end of the case.

Proof of Purchase

It does not appear that proof of purchase is required to fill out the claim form, but all claims are subject to audit and may require proof of purchase in the future.

Claim Form

Claim Form Deadline

09/19/2015 ESTIMATED

If the Court approves the Settlement, you will have 120 after the Settlements become final and effective to file your claim. The earliest this deadline will be is Sept. 19, 2015.

Case Name

In Re Transpacific Passenger Air Transportation Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 07-CV-5634-CRB, MDL. 1913, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Final Hearing

05/22/15

UPDATE: The Transpacific airline antitrust class action settlement received final approval on May 22, 2015.

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 10, 2018, Philippine Airlines Inc., Air New Zealand Ltd. and China Airlines Ltd. agreed to pay a total of $29.4 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to fix the prices of airline tickets for travel between the United States and Asia/Oceania.

UPDATE 3: June 2018, a near $50 million Transpacific Airlines class action settlement has been expanded to include four more airlines. Click here to file a claim.

Settlement Website

https://AirlineSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Rust Consulting

Transpacific Air Settlement
P.O. Box 2209
Fairibault, MN 55021-1609
800-439-1781

info@airlinesettlement.com

Class Counsel

COTCHETT, PITRE & MCCARTHY LLP

HAUSFELD, LLP

Defense Counsel

N/A