Delta, AirTran Fight Baggage Fee Class Action Lawsuit

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On Sept. 11., Delta Air Lines Inc. and AirTran Airways Inc. argued that the plaintiffs of a baggage fee class action lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court do no merit Class certification, as the precedent the plaintiffs rely on in their complaint has recently been replaced by case law that needs further analysis. This Delta class action lawsuit alleges Delta and AirTran violated antitrust statutes by agreeing to a price-fixing baggage fee scheme.

According to Delta and AirTran’s motion opposing certification of the baggage fee class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs are relying on the now outdated court decisions for In re: Northwest Airlines Corp., Midwestern Machinery v. Northwest Airlines and In re: Domestic Air Antitrust Litigation, cases that concluded over a decade ago and have since been replaced with the 2011 and 2013 Supreme Court decisions in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes and Comcast v. Behrend.

The defending airlines in this baggage fee class action lawsuit claim none of the courts involved in the litigation for the three older cases rigorously analyzed evidence for individual issues. Now, the Georgia federal court where the Delta baggage fee class action lawsuit is held is required to “unquestionably” perform analysis of the evidence and issues, the airlines argue.

Furthermore, Delta and AirTran claim that many of the possible Class Members were reimbursed for bag fees. Based on this reimbursement, the Class Members and plaintiffs should not be able to pursue claims of injury because they suffered none.

“Thus, contrary to the outdated law on which plaintiffs rely, the court cannot defer to a later stage the issue of reimbursement or whether plaintiffs can prove injury to each class member with common evidence in the face of undisputed evidence that many class members have not suffered any actual injury,” the airlines argue in their motion opposing certification of the baggage fee class action lawsuit.

Back in August, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten granted the plaintiffs of this Delta lawsuit their motion for Class certification, which had been pending for five years, but vacated the motion a few days later without publishing an opinion on the matter.

According to the judge’s initial order granting Class certification, he disagreed with Delta and AirTran’s argument that individualized issues predominated the case as some baggage fee Class Members benefited from the fees because they allegedly resulted in lower base fees. Additionally, the airlines argue that Class Members are further individualized because of varying prices for baggage fees.

This Delta baggage fee class action lawsuit was originally filed in February 2010, and alleges Delta and AirTran conspired to increase prices, which the plaintiffs claim occurred over several earning calls, industry conferences and joint negotiations between the defending airlines and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

In October 2013, Delta made its first attempt to dismiss this baggage fee class action lawsuit, arguing the plaintiffs failed to meet pleading requirements. A year later in November, it looked like Delta was going to be required to pay $1.8 million in sanctions as requested by the plaintiffs, which were later increased by Judge Batten to over $2.7 million.

While the plaintiffs’ claims have been trimmed over the course of this litigation, their claim that Delta and AirTran violated the Sherman Act remains.

The plaintiffs are represented by Kotchen & Low LLP, Schreeder Wheeler & Flint LLP,McCulley McCluer PLLC, Conley Griggs Partin LLP, Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman LLC, Berger & Montague PC and the Law Offices of David A. Bain LLC.

The Delta Baggage Fee Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Delta/AirTran Baggage Fee Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:09-md-02089, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

 UPDATE 2: On July 12, 2016, plaintiffs in an antitrust lawsuit against Delta Air Lines Inc. and AirTran Airways Inc. have won certification of a plaintiff Class that could include about 28 million Class Members.

UPDATE 4: On Jan. 25, 2017, plaintiffs challenging baggage fees charged by Delta and AirTran asked a federal appeals court touphold certification of a Class consisting of around 28 million former airline passengers.