US: Judge clears Delta, AirTran of antitrust violations

After eight years of litigation, a federal judge in Atlanta on Wednesday dismissed an antitrust case against Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways that had accused the airlines of illegally price-fixing when they first imposed passenger baggage fees that are now standard for the flying public.

In a 95-page ruling, US District Judge Timothy Batten granted summary judgment to Delta and AirTran, which was absorbed by Southwest Airlines in 2011. Batten decided there was insufficient evidence to undergird claims that airline executives had used multiple venues—including public quarterly earnings calls with security analysts, industry conferences, joint negotiations with Atlanta airport officials and an informal “grapevine” to coordinate their introduction of the fees.

“Even when viewed in the light most favorable to [the] plaintiffs, the evidence in this case simply does not permit a reasonable fact-finder to infer the existence of a conspiracy, as it does not tend to exclude the possibility that the alleged conspirators acted independently,” Batten said. “There is no genuine issue for trial.”

Full Content: Law 360

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