George Hanna

This is false. The email from that email address is conveying the information on the official website domesticairclass.com, and only refers you to the official site for more information on what to do next. People should not offer information just by guessing or making up what they want as it is misleading and not helpful. I am not affiliated with any of that, just get annoyed when people do that on public forums :-)

trouble747

I suppose there's an argument to be made that attorneys make too much money in general (though like most anything fees for legal services are largely determined by the market). It's a little silly to suggest they make too much money off of litigation such as this one, or have some sort of "conflict of interest" (?). Litigation--particularly complex litigation such as this--is extremely time-consuming and expensive, requiring the work of numerous individuals for hundreds if not thousands of hours. And the fees are going to be a minority percentage of the overall judgment. The purpose of a class action isn't necessarily to make whole every conceivable class member, but (among other reasons) to aggregate small losses and/or to force a change in behavior through the collective financial penalty. It's surely not a perfect system--nothing is--though what is a viable alternative.

And of course, you have an option to opt-out and sue on your own. Generally, obtaining recovery through suit requires a fair amount of effort and expense.

skunker

I see you're new here. This is FlyerTalk; everyone here knows everything.

Also, my wife got this email yesterday, but I have not. She can't think of the last time she purchased a flight.

TravelLawyer

I worked in litigation for the majority of my adult career and I understand the purpose of a class action - but it doesn't mean that it hasn't turned into a broken system. Unlike typical civil litigation where the attorney gets 30-40% contingency of the settlement, class actions settle, then a separate fund just for attorneys' fees and costs is negotiated - often eclipsing the settlement funds. This is why there is a conflict - it creates an incentive to settle as quickly as possible then try to get as much attorneys fees/costs as possible.

richarddd

What's the feasible alternative? Individual litigation is not realistic. At least having to spend time negotiating and having to pay might discourage airlines or other defendants from the bad behavior.

A better functioning FAA might help in this case.

TravelLawyer

@richarddd there are a lot of law review articles on overhauling the class action system. While some articles discuss finding an alternative - most are more about fixing what's broken.

trouble747

I practice civil litigation (government) but have no experience in class action so I'll defer to you on this one, although I'm not aware of any specific instances like you've mentioned. Obviously if the action is not successful in its underlying purpose or is not in the best interests of the client/class, then something is amiss that should be fixed. I don't know that most of the griping about class actions reaches that level of sophistication (I'm guessing there are many class actions that are successful and beneficial).

brewdog11

So, could us consumers file a class-action against the law firms to get our money? Hah.

Alefty

mozilla

It's real but their website always seems to be locked down when they send a new batch of emails.

Either because they get too many clicks in those periods - which I guess will be the official excuse - but that's something they should have caught that by now, they've been around for a few weeks.

More likely they intentionally lock it down to deter people from doing something the "Class Counsel" doesn't want, and hoping that they forget about it. The reason I suspect this is that they've also done a considerable effort to make sure the email lands in your spam box, not the opposite.

The website is working as I type right now.

jl6013

Did a search on their phone number and I found
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300732257.html

Even Kim Komando is posting about this settlement.
https://www.komando.com/happening-no...-owe-you-money

Settlement FAQ
https://domesticairclass.com/FAQ?portalid=0?portalid=0

Hope it helps.

I just got the email also.

AlwaysFlyStar

I mean, you basically answered your own question. In the existing situation, the lawyers take not only 30%, but additionally they take 'fees and expenses' on top of that. (Because apparently 20 million dollars is not adequate?) And it is all merely based upon what the airlines are actually willing to pay. Presumably, they are still better off than if they had not partaken in the illegal activity at all. The lawyers are basically just saying that they are willing to look the other way so long as they get their share. Compare that to a system where a stronger regulatory body were involved where they could demand restitution directly to the individuals at the rate to which they (the regulator, rather than the airline) believe the airline profited. Even if it is a minor amount per person, it would ensure that each individual is in a similar place they would have been had the illegal activity not occurred, and the company has to go through all of the additional expense of attempting to recompense all of those individuals. Just seems fairer all around.

richarddd

@AlwaysFlyStar, unfortunately, we do not have a stronger regulatory body and don't seem likely to get one in the near future. It would be nice if we did.

In the absence of a better FAA (or other agency), the possibility of litigation provides some incentive to behave better. Costs are higher for the airlines with class actions than without. Removing the possibility of class actions is not likely to make a better regulatory agency appear or to inspire airlines to improve their behavior.

kyanar

Well, you're welcome to file an objection with the court stating you don't feel the settlement is equitable. I'm tempted to do it simply because I loathe class action ambulance chasers.

autdi

I would just in principle. The supposed return of the ill gotten gains of the collusion results in potentially nothing to the ones that paid the ticket prices. Further, the collusion indicated was the equivalent of $0.03 a flight per ticket, which if you are going to collude, you wouldn't take the chance of getting nailed for such a paltry sum. Minimal gain, large downside, not going to happen. The class action lawyers didn't represent the class, they represented themselves, and got enough shakedown money out of the airlines to go away, not even attempting to make the class whole.