Airline lawsuits overview:
- Who: American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines recently dealt with lawsuits, mergers and accidents.
- Why: The lawsuits involve loyalty accounts, hot meals and a murder-suicide.
- Where: Airline issues affect consumers nationwide.
Airlines were recently involved with lawsuits, settlements, investigations and appeals over issues involving mergers, loyalty accounts, meals, employees and a midflight door plug blowout.
Class action says American Airlines wrongfully terminated loyalty accounts
A pair of consumers filed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines last month, claiming the airline wrongfully terminated loyalty accounts belonging to members of its AAdvantage frequent flyer program.
The class action lawsuit claims American Airlines terminated the loyalty accounts without giving any explanation, with the consumers arguing they each lost more than 50,000 lawfully accrued reward miles.
“AA’s decision to terminate AAdvantage accounts entirely was improper and denied AAdvantage members the benefits they had accrued through previous purchases,” the American Airlines class action says.
The pair of consumers speculate American Airlines takes issue with consumers opening more than one American Airlines-branded credit card, which is offered through CitiBank and Barclays, to take advantage of certain exclusive promotions.
Also last month, American Airlines reached a confidential settlement with Kiwi, a global tourist meta search engine, to end claims Kiwi sold tickets for American Airlines flights without being an authorized retailer.
Child burned on United Airlines flight by meal that was too hot, lawsuit claims
A married couple filed a lawsuit against United Airlines on behalf of their 6-year-old daughter, claiming their child was injured after a hot meal slid off her tray table onto her lap, causing burns and discomfort.
The couple argue United Airlines served their daughter a meal that was too hot and on a tray table that was defective and not flat. They also claim the airline failed to treat her alleged injuries for the remainder of what was a 12-hour flight from Israel to New Jersey.
“(The mother) requested prompt medical attention for (the daughter), but United’s employees and/or agents were unable to provide adequate care, partly because United did not equip the aircraft used for the flight with reasonable medical supplies to treat burn injuries,” the United Airlines lawsuit says.
The couple seeks damages in excess of $75,000 to compensate their daughter for injuries, burns, disfigurement, mental anguish, emotional distress and the loss of ability to enjoy her life, among other things.
Boeing asks court to dismiss murder-suicide liability claims
Airplane manufacturer Boeing asked a Washington federal court last month to dismiss claims it should be held liable for a murder suicide that occurred due to an alleged love triangle between employees for the company.
Boeing argues the employees involved were neither at work nor on the clock when the murder occurred and that the estate of the murdered worker did not claim negligent retention of his killer.
“Plaintiff’s only allegation is that Boeing failed to stop Mr. Washington from engaging in a consensual sexual relationship with a coworker,” the motion to dismiss states.
NTSA says engineers failed to replace bolts on plane’s door plug
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report of its investigation of a midflight blowout of a Boeing 737 Max 9 door plug during an American Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California.
The agency says the Boeing 737 Max 9’s door plug was missing four bolts that engineers who worked on the plane removed, apparently failing to replace them after repairs.
No passengers were injured during the in-flight incident, which occurred while the plane was at a lower-than-cruising altitude. The Federal Aviation Commission grounded all 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets in the wake of the incident.
1st Circuit to hear JetBlue, Spirit Airlines’ appeal of decision to block merger
The 1st Circuit ruled it will hear an appeal of a federal judge’s decision to block a proposed $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines over concerns the acquisition could harm competition in the low-cost carrier market.
JetBlue and Spirit previously requested a fast appeal of the judge’s decision to block the merger, arguing a quick timeline was necessary to ensure the public could potentially benefit from a merger between the airlines.
The 1st Circuit will hear the airlines’ appeal in June, prior to the closing date set for the merger.
What do you think of the recent airline issues? Let us know in the comments.
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26 thoughts onAirlines file, hit with lawsuits over mergers, loyalty accounts, more
American Airlines cancels your loyalty points and offers to restore if you pay a fee. I do everything I can to avoid American. I even pay higher ticket prices to NOT have to fly American. In Feb 2024, they changed my seats without consent or knowledge until last minute. Was advised to have them correct at Palm Springs Airport when we checked in. They could not change them. Husband and I were sharing a backpack with personal items. I will avoid American Airlines unless absolutely necessary.
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