Passengers Sue United, Delta Over “Windowless” Window Seats
Passengers on Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have sued both air carriers over being charged extra fees to purchase window seats on flights, but learning on boarding that their rows didn’t have windows at all. According to The Hill, there are reportedly over one million passengers who have filed these separate lawsuits, and the Greenbaum Olbrantz legal firm represents them.
The lawsuits claim that customers paid extra fees to obtain seats on Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 planes that would normally be accompanied by windows, but didn’t have them due to the placement of electrical panels, air conditioning ducts or other mechanical components. They go on to allege that the carriers sold “every wall-adjacent seat as a ‘window’ seat,” with Delta charging $70 more to select a seat as opposed to an economy fare. For United passengers, they were charged $50 more and $100 on international flights.
“Had plaintiffs and the class members known that the seats they were purchasing (were) windowless, they would not have selected them – much less have paid extra,” said the lawsuit against Delta Air lines, which was filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The United Airlines lawsuit was filed in a federal court in San Francisco, California. The documents contend that Delta and United do not inform passengers of these instances during the booking process, unlike others such as Alaska Airlines and American Airlines.
The Delta suit is led by Nicholas Meyer, who had an early August flight from LaGuardia Airport to Orange County, California, with a layover in Atlanta, and chose a window seat. But after he was seated, Meyer says he spent “the ensuing four-and-a-half hour flight next to a blank wall.”
Then there’s Aviva Copaken from the United lawsuit who suffered from claustrophobia and “enjoys a view while looking out the window of the airplane” so she purchased three window seats, only to find out none of them were near a window. According to ABC News, she received a refund for two of her seats but not a third.
“We’re seeking to hold United and Delta accountable for charging customers premiums for products that they didn’t deliver, and misrepresenting the nature of the products that they did deliver. United and Delta could easily implement the same disclosures,” said attorney Carter Greenbaum. The lawsuit is seeking a “refund of the extra fees” in addition to punitive damages. Both carriers have not publicly commented on the lawsuits.
In other airline news, see the reaction to Southwest Airlines now charging plus-size passengers an extra fee.
