Court: United States District Court for Eastern District of New York
Case No.: MDL No. 1775

Wexler Wallace is one of a multitude of law firms bringing this massive antitrust case against over twenty aircraft carriers that provide shipping services around the world. The class period for this price-fixing scheme runs from January 1, 2002 to the present. In essence, the action arises from the Defendants’ massive global conspiracy to fix or stabilize the prices of air freight shipping services.  The complaint alleges that the Defendants and their co-conspirators acted in concert pursuant to a single, overarching conspiracy to artificially inflate the prices of shipping air cargo worldwide.

Over 3 years ago, Defendants Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa Cargo AG, and Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. (collectively, “Lufthansa”) settled for $85 million.  The settlement covers all claims related to shipments to, from, or within the United States based on any law, anywhere in the world.  The Court appointed retired Judge Daniel H. Weinstein to serve as Settlement Master;  he ultimately recommended that U.S. indirect purchasers get 18 percent of the fund, and Direct purchasers (both U.S. and foreign) share the remaining 82 percent, with shipments to the United States valued at 1.625 times shipments from the United States. Foreign indirect purchasers receive 15 percent of the foreign direct purchasers’ share.

On March 14, 2011, the Court entered its Orders Approving the Settlement Agreement and Final Judgment regarding four more settlements: (1) under the Air France-KLM Settlement, Société Air France, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.and Martinair Holland N.V., have paid $87 million; (2) under the Japan Airlines Settlement, Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. has paid $12 million; (3) under the American Airlines Settlement, American Airlines, Inc. and AMR Corporation have paid $5 million; and  (4) under the SAS Settlement, Scandinavian Airlines System and SAS Cargo Group A/S have paid $13.93 million.

Status

There are additional partial proposed settlements totaling $75.5 million. This in addition to the approximately $203 million in settlements with other Defendants.  The Court will hold a hearing on June 23, 2011 to consider whether to grant final approval to these additional settlements: (1) under the Cargolux Settlement, Cargolux Airlines International, S.A. has agreed to pay $35.1 million, in installments, of which $25.1 million has already been paid; (2) under the Qantas Settlement, Qantas Airways Limited has agreed to pay $26.5 million; (3) under the ANA Settlement, All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Has agreed to pay $10.4 million; and (4) nder the Thai Airways Settlement, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited has agreed to pay $3.5 million.

To learn more about the case and view the most recent Complaint, click here.