BA agree class action settlement
June 9 2011, 2:56 pm
It has emerged that British Airways has agreed to settle a $90 million class action lawsuit in the US over cargo price fixing.
After global regulators and lawyers discovered evidence of price-fixing by at least 15 companies between 2000 and 2006, a number of lawsuits were put together. Prior to BA’s $90 million settlement, Air France-KLM settled an $87 million last year.
However this is not the first time BA has had to settle a class action case against them. Four years ago British Airways pleaded guilty to being involved with a price fixing cartel which resulted in a fine of $300 million.
The latest fine for BA is rooted from their involvement between 2000 and 2006. The lawsuits and class actions following the investigations have resulted in fines of more than $1.5 billion amongst a number of airlines.
The airline industry is currently facing significant challenges. The rising cost of oil is making big dents in their profits and it looks set to continue. In addition services such as Skype do not require to fly everywhere on business.
Nevertheless, the airline industry is fiercely competitive and whichever airline adapts best to the current situation will succeed. Air travel is a global industry and it is very sensitive to economics, politics and nature.
BA is also yet to pay a fine from the OFT for £125.5 million which was initially agreed before the criminal investigation collapsed. The case was regarding the alleged price fixing, specifically in relation to passenger fuel surcharges.
