Multi Billion Dollar US Air Freight Antitrust Prosecution Finally Settled

US – WORLDWIDE – And then there was none. Air India, the last defendant remaining among nearly three dozen air cargo carriers prosecuted in 2006 over a global conspiracy to artificially inflate the price of air freight services, has entered into a settlement agreement of $12.5 million, bringing the decade-long antitrust litigation to a conclusion. Just the plaintiffs’ cumulative recoveries alone in the multidistrict antitrust class action against air freight carriers now surpass $1.2 billion.

Earlier this month the last but one of the carriers perceived as guilty, Air New Zealand, settled by agreeing a $35 million payment after many of the world’s largest airlines were named in the civil class action lawsuit, which was scheduled for trial later this year in September in New York Federal Court. The lawsuit began in February 2006, following raids by government investigators worldwide.

Criminal prosecutions by the US government resulted in over $1.8 billion in fines, but no restitution for customers. Instead, compensation for the customers overcharged by the price-fixing conspiracy came from the settlements achieved in this civil litigation. The earliest settlements represented in the range of 2% of sales and the final settlement accounted for more than 10% of sales.

Defendant	Settlement Amount ($)
Lufthansa	85,000,000
Air France/KLM/Martinair	87,000,000
American Airlines	5,000,000
Japan Airlines	12,000,000
SAS	13,930,000
All Nippon Airways	10,400,000
Cargolux	35,100,000
Qantas	26,500,000
Thai Airways	3,500,000
British Airways	89,512,000
Lan/ABSA	66,000,000
Malaysia Airlines	3,200,000
South African Airways	3,290,000
Saudia	14,000,000
Emirates	7,833,000
El Al Israel Airlines	15,800,000
Air Canada	7,500,000
Korean Air	115,000,000
Singapore Air	92,492,442
Cathay Pacific	65,000,000
China Airlines	90,000,000
Nippon Cargo Airlines	36,350,000
Asiana Airlines	55,000,000
EVA Airways	99,000,000
Polar Air Cargo/Atlas Air	100,000,000
Air China	50,000,000
Air New Zealand	35,000,000
Air India	12,500,000
Total	$1,235,907,442

In Re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, 06-MD-1775 (JG) (VVP).