Summary
- Delta Air Lines will reportedly pay as much as $30 million in a category motion lawsuit over refusing refunds for canceled flights throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Over 14,000 passengers submitted claims and nearly 20% were found to be eligible for compensation.
- Delta denies the allegations, stating that it has already refunded hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2020.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will reportedly pay several million dollars after a category motion lawsuit accusing the airline of refusing to refund some passengers after canceled flights throughout the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline pays as much as $30 million, accounting for the overall sum of refunds and attorney fees. An interest can even be reportedly paid, despite the airline claiming that it was not within the flawed.
Refusing reimbursement
Following a final approval hearing, a judge reached a settlement on Thursday, in line with AirlineTicketSettlement.com.
“The lawsuit alleges that Delta breached its contracts of carriage with ticketholders by refusing requests for refunds and as a substitute providing credits for future travel on the airline for flights Delta cancelled within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delta denies all allegations and has agreed to settle this lawsuit to avoid further litigation. The Court has not decided who is correct.”
Greater than 14,000 claims
US travelers who received credit for a non-refundable purchased ticket were eligible for the category motion. In keeping with CNN, passengers would have requested compensation for the ticket but received credit as a substitute that was not used as of January thirteenth of this 12 months. The ticket also would need to have been issued for a canceled flight that occurred from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Over 14,000 passengers submitted their claims, with roughly 19% of those being eligible, in line with FOX Business. The deadline to submit was on September fifteenth.
Photo: Austin Deppe/Shutterstock
CNN reported that the lawsuit explained that the US legacy carrier was unfair and deceptive with its policy to withhold refunds, which limited or forced passengers into rebooking their flight or receiving a travel voucher reasonably than compensation.
Denying allegations
$27 million reportedly totals the sum of claims, but Delta can even pay 7% interest in money or credits on top of the refund. Moreover, the carrier will cover attorney fees, which cost around $2.3 million, in line with CNN. Nonetheless, Delta maintains that it didn’t commit any wrongdoing and said that hundreds of thousands of tickets have been refunded during the last three years.
a Delta spokesperson said in a press release obtained by FOX Business.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
In keeping with CNN, considered one of the plaintiffs features a teacher who paid $2,400 for the canceled flights of nine students. One other traveler spent over $3,000 on flights to Egypt but was unaware that they might use all of their credit.
Greater than $600 million in refunds have reportedly been issued by airlines within the US to 1000’s of passengers for canceled or modified itineraries because of the pandemic. The Department of Transportation said that just about one in five of the 7,200 consumer complaints received in August last 12 months were related to refunds.