Spirit Airlines settles hidden bag fees class action for $8.25M

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Update:

• Spirit Airlines agreed to pay $8.25 million to end claims the airline covertly charged its customers hidden fees for carry-on luggage. 
• A certified class of Spirit passengers asked a New York federal court earlier this month to approve the deal.
• The airline agreed to make a cash payment that will cover up to 75% of the amount it charged class members in fees for their carry-on bags.
• Spirit passengers claimed the airline violated New York contract law by allegedly failing to include fees for carry-on luggage in the ticket price.
• The settlement agreement also encompasses JetBlue, which is planning a $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit.

(Nov. 26, 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.

Lead plaintiffs accuse the budget airline of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud in a class action lawsuit over the bag fees.

According to the plaintiffs, Spirit Airlines assesses the fees unexpectedly for carry-on luggage, and customers are stuck paying high costs for originally low-cost airfare.

Spirit Airlines, a Florida-based company, contends that by not adding a carry-on luggage fee into their ticket prices, they can charge less to consumers who may need only a purse or personal item while traveling.

In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II said the claims in the Spirit Airlines bag fee class action lawsuit were preempted by a federal law called the Airline Deregulation Act. The act, concluded the judge, prohibits non-federal laws, such as state laws, from affecting airlines.

“Relief would not be preempted only if a plaintiff claims and proves that an airline dishonored a term to which the airline itself stipulated,” the order dismissing the Spirit Airlines class action lawsuit stated. “Here, because plaintiffs seek to impermissibly enlarge or enhance their agreement with Spirit, plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim is preempted by the ADA.”

According to one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, John Hermina, the judge failed to consider an implied contract between Spirit Airlines and passengers that allows carry-on luggage in exchange for the purchase of an airline ticket.

“The Court’s abbreviated decision completely overlooks the fact that an implied contract, which included carry on items, was created and breached,” Hermina said in a statement to Top Class Actions. “To follow the Court’s analysis, Spirit Airlines would be acting properly to charge for a coat or a pocket book.”

More than 20 airline passengers joined the Spirit Airlines bag fee class action lawsuit after being assessed fees for their carry-on items. Spirit Airlines is known for cheap fares in exchange for budget travel that lacks the accommodations of other airlines.

The passengers complained that the fees made the cheap airline tickets the same price or even more than what they would have paid for a full-service airline.

The Spirit Airlines bag fee class action lawsuit also alleged that the airline hid the fee from consumers – leaving them beholden to the airline when it came time to travel.

Hermina told Top Class Actions the plaintiffs agreed to appeal the court’s decision “because they respectfully believe the decision is erroneous since the objective person would believe that a carry on item was included under the circumstances.”

“There was clearly an implied term in the airline contract that included the carry on items,” Hermina contends.

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.

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