Air China Cargo offers $50 million to settle class action

A $50 million settlement subject to court approval has been proposed between Air China and plaintiffs in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit alleging previously widespread air cargo carrier collusion on services to the United States.    A $50 million settlement subject to court approval has been proposed between Air China Ltd. and Air China Cargo Co. Ltd. and plaintiffs in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit alleging previously widespread air cargo carrier collusion on services to the United States.
   To date, plaintiffs consisting of freight forwarders and shippers have entered into settlements with 26 defendant groups totaling $1.19 billion, of which settlements with 22 defendant groups for $848 million have been granted final approval by the court. 
   “We’re very pleased with the favorable rulings and compensation we’ve achieved to date for the class,” said Robert Kaplan, partner with Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer and co-lead attorney in the air cargo class action litigation, in a statement Friday. “The settlement with Air China is no exception and the outcome represents a major win for the class plaintiffs.”
   Kaplan Fox serves as one of four co-lead counsel representing a class of direct purchasers from defendants of air cargo shipping services for shipments to or from the United States between Jan. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2006, seeking compensation for alleged overcharges sustained as a result of a price-fixing conspiracy alleged against more than two dozen airlines.
   A number of air cargo carriers operating in the United States have entered into settlement agreements with class action plaintiffs and individual claimants to avoid protracted lawsuits.
   Litigation is still pending against Air India and Air New Zealand, and plaintiffs are preparing for a September 2016 trial against these two carriers, Kaplan Fox said.
   Nine years ago, competition authorities in the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada and South Korea raided the offices of airlines to collect evidence of antitrust violations. More than two dozen airlines were subsequently charged in various countries with conspiracy to fix prices on fuel and security surcharges for air cargo shipments between late 1999 and 2006. A number of airlines have pleaded guilty and paid more than $1.8 billion in criminal fines in the United States alone.