Spirit Airlines seeks dismissal of bag fee fraud class action lawsuit

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Spirit Airlines is seeking dismissal of a bag fee fraud class action lawsuit, arguing that federal law preempts what the consumers are alleging that the “surprise” bag fee catches many flight passengers off guard.

The Spirit Airlines bag fee fraud class action says that the airline company has gone out of their way to conceal their carry-on bag fees from consumers who learn about them too late at the airport.

In response to the bag fee fraud class action, Spirit Airlines says that the New York federal judge must turn to the federal laws first.

Spirit Airlines, based in Florida, is known for low-cost flights. However, many consumers argue that the company uses bag fees to make up for the costs on the other end.

When the Spirit Airlines class action was filed over alleged bag fee fraud, the company said that their business model is to only allow customers to have access to the services they want, allowing the airline to offer very low-cost flights.

However, the consumers in the Spirit Airlines bag fee class action say that Spirit charges carry-on bag fees that catch a lot of passengers off guard at the airport.

The Spirit luggage fee class action says that this “gotcha” scheme is fraud.

Spirit contends in response to the bag fee fraud class action that these additional services are not automatically included in the cost of the flight ticket, which means that consumers who don’t need a carry-on bag can save even more money.

The response to the Spirit Airlines bag fee class action claim includes arguments from the company that the lawsuit intends to upend the current business model that provides bare-bones services to numerous locations.

The company says that what they communicate to their customers is the great value they provide on the flight tickets, while also allowing customers to opt in to additional costs in the form of a carry-on bag.

The Spirit Airlines response to the bag fee fraud class action includes arguments that the lawsuit itself is barred by the Airline Deregulation Act, a federal law that blocks states from attempting to regulate the interstate airline industry.

In past cases, however, the Supreme Court has held that the preemption language does preempt all state law claims that relate to an airline’s rates.

The Spirit Airline class action lawsuit over the alleged bag fee scheme includes contract language that Spirit agreed to transport the plaintiffs to their destinations for a contract price, but when passengers show up at the gate, Spirit then modified that agreement and forces passengers to pay an additional amount for a carry-on bag.

The consumers who filed the Spirit Airlines bag fee class action say that sometimes the cost of the carry-on bag fee exceeded the cost of the original ticket they purchased.

The consumers are represented by John Hermina of Hermina Law Group and Gregory Allen of the Law Office of Gregory Allen.

The Spirit Airlines bag fee class action lawsuit is Thomas Cox, et al. v. Spirit Airlines Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-05172, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Nov. 20, 2018, Spirit Airlines customers are fighting to keep their class action lawsuit over unfair carry-on bag fees alive by filing an appeal a few minutes after a New York federal judge granted Spirit’s dismissal motion.