American Airlines has agreed to a settlement in a class-action lawsuit.
A group of American Airlines passengers who were forced to pay bag fees filed a class-action lawsuit and an agreement has been met with the airline. American will refund them and other passengers who claim they were wrongly charged.
According to a complaint filed in early 2021, five travelers were told they would not have to pay for some of their checked bags because the passengers held co-branded credit cards or had frequent flier status. Once arriving at the airport the customers were told that was incorrect and were forced to pay the checked baggage fees. The suit claims that American Airlines falsely promoted the promise of free checked bags to certain loyalty members, credit card holders and those who purchased a first- or business-class ticket.
“AA’s passenger contracts specify that certain of its passengers are permitted to check bag(s), for free,” the complaint says. “Yet, AA systematically required these passengers to pay to check bags and thus breached its contract with affected passengers.”
The lawsuit alleges that the airline failed to program the terms on checked bags in its standardized software system used for determining when passengers have to pay for bags upon checking in at the airport. As a result, AA passengers were improperly charged, and forced to pay, baggage fees.
American agreed to pay at least $7.5 million as part of a settlement agreement in the federal suit filed in Texas. The airline denies any allegations of intentional wrongdoing in the case.
The settlement applies to two groups of impacted passengers. Travelers who who received email confirmation that promised one or more of their checked bags would be free but upon check in at the airport were forced to pay for baggage. Second, travelers who held branded credit cards that entitled them to no-charge baggage checking but who were still force to pay the fees on domestic trips. Travel must have taken place on or after Feb. 24, 2017, and tickets needed to be bought no later than April 8, 2020.
Passengers who believe they were affected still has the opportunity to file a claims. The settlement allows those impacted will be eligible to get a full refund of the baggage fees. American will pay no less than $7.5 million and “there is no limit or cap” on the amount the airline might pay above that number. American Airline will also be responsible to pay for the costs for settlement administration and attorney fees.
