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Friendly Skies Could Bring Check in the Mail

Virgin Atlantic, British Air admit price-fixing

February 17, 2008

The two airlines tentatively agreed on Friday to settle civil price-fixing claims by returning more than $200 million to customers who flew between the U.S., United Kingdom and elsewhere between 2004 and 2006.

The proposed settlement was presented to U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco Friday.

Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, a Washington law firm involved in the proposed settlement, said in a statement that the agreement would make payments available to passengers who bought tickets from either airline between Aug. 11, 2004, and March 23, 2006.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic declined to comment; British Airways couldn't be reached. Cohen Milstein represented affected Virgin Atlantic and British Airways passengers.

The law firm said the settlement would be the first time such a case has been resolved simultaneously under both U.S. and U.K. law, paying U.K. consumers under an agreement ordered by a U.S. court. The deal would settle claims arising from alleged collusion on fuel surcharges on passenger tickets.

Michael Hausfeld, a Cohen Milstein partner, said the deal "recovers 100% of that unlawful overcharge, with no deduction for attorney fees." Those will be set separately, the firm's statement said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Last year, British Airways was fined more than $500 million by U.S. and British authorities for its role in the fuel-surcharge price-fixing case. Virgin wasn't fined because it came forward to expose the alleged collusion, which involved other airlines and markets, including air cargo. No U.S. carriers were fined, said the Journal.

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