Asiana Airlines Reaches $55M Cargo Price-Fixing Class Action Settlement

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According to documents filed today in New York federal court, Asiana Airlines has agreed to pay $55 million to settle its portion of long-running multidistrict litigation (MDL) alleging it conspired with other air freight carriers to fix the prices of cargo shipments.

The air cargo price-fixing MDL dates back to 2006 when more than 90 class action lawsuits were filed individually and on behalf of purchasers of air freight shipping services from at least two dozen air carriers, including Asiana. The air cargo class action lawsuits alleged the defendants unlawfully conspired to fix the prices of worldwide air freight shipping services, resulting in artificially inflated prices. The class action lawsuits were subsequently consolidated into the MDL titled In re: Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation.

The air cargo price-fixing class action lawsuits were filed after the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission launched an investigation into the air freight industry. The agencies were investigating allegations that a number of airlines conspired to determine the rates they should charge for certain routes.

Class Members of the proposed Asiana class action settlement include all persons and entities that directly purchased air freight shipping services to, from, or within the United States from Asiana or any of the other defendants during the period from Jan. 1, 2000 to Sept. 11, 2006.

Under the terms of the proposed price-fixing class action settlement, Asiana also agrees to cooperate in the prosecution of the antitrust claims against the defendants remaining in the air cargo price-fixing MDL.

On Tuesday, the plaintiffs submitted a memorandum in support of preliminary approval of the Asiana class action settlement, arguing that the settlement agreement “falls well within the range of possible approval and that certification of the Settlement Class is appropriate.”

To date, 18 class action settlements have received final approval. Four air cargo price-fixing settlements have been preliminarily approved. Earlier this month, a letter was filed with a New York federal judge indicating Nippon Cargo Airlines was close to finalizing a settlement agreement.

The plaintiffs are represented by Hollis Salzman and Meegan Hollywood of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP; Robert N. Kaplan, Gregory K. Arenson and Gary L. Specks of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP; Howard J. Sedran, Austin Cohen and Keith J. Verrier of Levin Fishbein Sedran & Berman; and Michael D. Hausfeld, Brent W. Landau, Hilary K. Scherrer and Melinda Coolidge of Hausfeld LLP.

The Air Cargo Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:06-md-01775, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Feb. 4, 2016, Polar Air agreed to pay $100 million and the Air China agreed to pay $50 million to settle the litigation. If approved, these class action settlements will resolve the claims against all but two defendants in the litigation.

UPDATE 2: On Oct. 6, 2016, a federal judge signed off on thelast few settlements ending a decade-long air cargo antitrust litigation.