Airline practices like fixing prices on airfreight and cargo is being scrutinized anew. This time a class action lawsuit has been filed in BC Supreme Court alleging dozens of worldwide airlines took part in cartel by agreeing to fix prices, signaled increases in surcharges and took active steps to conceal the unlawful conspiracy from customers.
No news has been released yet on the identity of the subject airlines.
The lawsuit also claimed that the airlines agreed to act in concert to one another in demanding fuel and security surcharges.
The alleged ‘cartel’ is an organization of hub carriers that dominate hub markets, as demonstrated by market share.
The cities of San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Diego, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago have sued several web-based travel clearinghouses including Expedia Inc., Travelocity, Hotels.com, and Orbitz for allegedly failing to pay millions of dollars in hotel taxes.
The combined class-action lawsuits seek to recover lost taxes. For one, the city of San Antonio estimates loses as much as $2 million annually in missed tax revenue incurred by at least 16 online agencies. Officials of two other biggest Texas cities, Dallas and Houston, say they could potentially join with San Antonio in the suit filed in federal district court in San Antonio, but are considering their own actions.