Delta agrees to pay almost $30 million to settle class action lawsuit over COVID pandemic refunds

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit regarding refunds of travel and ticket costs to consumers from canceled flights during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Court records show Delta will pay nearly $30 million to the plaintiffs of the class-action lawsuit, in addition to attorneys’ fees and other awards stipulated by the settlement.

With the settlement agreement approved, the case was dismissed with prejudice on Oct. 5, permanently closing the case.

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According to court documents, Delta will pay $2.285,000 in class counsel attorneys’ fees, a 7% interest rate in addition to refunds consumers would be receiving due to a previous settlement in the case. The company will also pay $51,300.80 for attorneys’ costs, according to court documents, plus and $246,465.00 for estimated Settlement Administration Costs, according to court records.

Eligible customers were required to submit a claim form by Sept. 15 in order to receive the cash refund or credit, plus 7% interest on the amount.

Court records show that the settlement applied to close to “68,000 Settlement Class members who were allegedly issued credits after requesting a cash refund after their flights were canceled during the relevant timeframe following the COVID-19 pandemic, in violation of Delta’s contract of carriage.”

To qualify for these payments and refunds, passengers had to be U.S. citizens who bought non-refundable tickets on flights scheduled from March 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021, had requested a refund through Delta’s customer service programs, and had purchased tickets for flights which were canceled and had an unused flight credit as of Jan. 13, 2023.

Delta also agreed to pay a $3,000 service award to the class representative, plaintiff Angela Dusko.

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Court records filed in early October declared “On June 8, 2023, Epiq received one data file with 75,261 records for identified Settlement Class Members,” each with the potential to get a credit or refund, plus the 7% added on per the terms of the settlement.

However, the total of potential class action award recipients fell to 67,753 following work to reach those seeking settlement awards, according to documents filed for the court case.

According to the court record, Delta will also provide the organizations Public Justice and United Way of Greater Atlanta, 50% of the residual funds each, in accordance with the settlement agreement.

Additional specifics were provided in recently filed records, stating that the overall fund to provide settlement money to customers was a total sum of $27,312,667.22.

Thursday’s court decision noted the costs were a total of nearly $30 million as a result of the additional fees and awards required by the settlement agreement.

“In light of these factors, the arguments made by Class Counsel, and Class Counsel’s Declaration, all submitted with the Motion, the Court finds that Class Counsel’s request for an award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $2,285,000.00, i.e., approximately 7.6% of the total value ($29,895,433.02) of the benefits to the Settlement Class—$27,312,667.22, inclusive of available refunds and 7% interest to be claimed by Settlement Class Members; attorneys’ fees of $2,285,000.00 to be paid by Delta; $51,300.80 for litigation costs to be paid by Delta; and $246,465.00 for estimated Settlement Administration Costs to be paid by Delta—is reasonable and warranted,” the court wrote in its approval of the agreement.

As a part of the agreement, following the settlement, the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be re-litigated.

A Delta spokesperson shared a statement with Channel 2 Action News that read,

“Since the beginning of 2020, Delta refunded over 11 million tickets totaling $6 billion, of which 20% took place in 2022. In the settlement agreement from May 2023, Delta does not admit or acknowledge it failed to follow its contract of carriage or that it failed to provide refunds in accordance with its contract of carriage.”

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