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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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65 thoughts onUnited Airlines Must Face COVID-19 Ticket Refund Class Action, Judge Rules
I shared other people’s frustrations with United Airlines. I booked a flight for myself and my wife from Newark NJ to Indianapolis, IN, for a business event scheduled on April 10, 2020, and for another meeting on June 15, 2020. Unfortunately, United Airlines cancelled both of our flights and issued us some vouchers before the reopening. I would like to join this lawsuit.
I want to see how this goes. I am a New Zealander. I booked to fly to USA from Australia and got travel credits. I don’t know if someone outside USA can join a class action.
I booked a cruise with my best friend and sister, we purchased round trip tickets to Florida, Covid hit and our trip got cancelled. We were told we could not get refunds because they were offering credit. We do not travel a lot and this was a once in a life time trip. We were give a certain amount of time to use the credit or loose it! So we booked another trip only to be told it would cost us an additional $700, I feel so ripped off. I will never fry United again!
Round trip tickets were purchased by me on May 31st for my military son and his fiancé to come home to be married in August. Original cost for RT was $2064. On August 13th United canceled one of their return flights scheduled for Aug26th. thirteen days before the flight! They offered no rescheduling of flight and connections. I was forced to purchase new tickets for them to get back overseas. This cost an additional $2,732.60. It also cost my son $400 in rescheduling fees to fly out of DUB back to his base in Italy. He flies out of DUB to assist his disabled wife. United has offered me a partial refund of my first purchase. Claiming I used ½ of it. Also ,the new flight for 8/29 was canceled on runway. Rescheduled new flight for 8/30 was diverted, delayed for hours (with no food or wifi) and luggage was (and still is) lost. The trip home for passengers was over 20 hours. United has offered a credit on my sons United membership. Of course this only good for so long, and he will not have leave for over a year. Much less use United.
I have been on the phone and chat service with United countless times only to be disconnected, or told to fill out the online requests. All of which I have done.
Yes, I would like to be apart of any class action suit! please add me, my son and or daughter in law
ADD US
United will not refund my ticket for $2509 and has lost the amount of my flight voucher for my ticket which I was told was associated with my booking number and I verified. It was a trip to Hawaii that was cancelled due to a Covid outbreak. I have all the paid receipts but they now said that I have to go back to Priceline. Priceline said from the beginning that United was paid for the flight and needs to refund the cost of the tickets. United has literally stolen my money. I want to join this class action lawsuit.
Let me know what happens/happened. I recently tried to use my ETC with United only to be told it has been redeemed by random people already. Out 700$ because of a glitch/hack on their end.
I booked six flights for my workers to come to Canada for Mar. 19, 2020 arrival. I used Expedia/Orbitz for the initial purchase, but it seems United Airlines holds the power over the decision and funds. I was encouraged at the time of cancellation to not request a refund as I would be re-booking similar flights in the future years. I have been jockeyed back and forth between Expedia and United in a hoodwinking style of deception, provided with useless United Credit Coupons, and then told that my credits had been cancelled as they are now outside of United’s policy. Meanwhile, they have happily kept my USD 2725 and I have nothing to show. What kind of company has such a policy of theft…seems United Airlines does.
My mother had a United Airline ticket to fly from La Guardia(New York) to Buenos Aires Argentina on August 1st of 2021. The flight was canceled twice. Two days before the last scheduled departure we received a notification that all flights to Argentina had been suspended until further notice with no explanation why. My mother was able to book a flight on American Airlines. United Airlines refuses to give us a refund and would not discuss a credit with us either. In fact, the representative hung up on us during our last phone call to them.