Saudi Arabian Airlines joins SAA and Malaysia Airlines in paying price-fixing claims

Saudi Arabian Airlines has agreed to pay US$14-million to resolve class action claims that it was involved in an air freight price-fixing cartel, reports IFW. The settlement with Saudi, and the two other recently settled claims by Malaysia Airlines and South African Airways, as significant in that the trio have not pleaded guilty to violations of anti-trust laws in the US, unlike the majority of the other settling airline groups, said counsel for the plaintiffs. The agreement stems from claims filed by direct purchasers of air freight shipping services who accused the airlines of conspiring to raise freight rates between 2000 and 2006. If the proposed settlement is approved by US District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn’s federal court, it would mean that 14 airline groups named in the class action price-fixing litigation have settled, or agreed to settle, bringing the total amount of proposed settlements to US$454.4-million. To date, 22 airlines and 21 company executives have been charged in the criminal investigation, which has resulted in more than US$1.8-billion in fines, while civil litigation is still pending against 14 airline groups.