From: venky@thelonious.bellcore.com (G A Venkatesh)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: More on Airline Antitrust Refunds
Keywords: Airlines, Antitrust, Litigation
Date: 9 Oct 92 16:08:14 GMT
Reply-To: venky@thelonious.bellcore.com (G A Venkatesh)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Bellcore, Morristown NJ

In article <1992Oct9.151242.17034@cbnewsk.cb.att.com> bgf@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (billy.g.fuller) writes:
>
>	You may recall that I posted the address to get the refund
>package in the mail for the Airlines Antitrust Litigation a couple of
>months ago.  Well, I finally got my package in the mail from them a
>couple of days ago.  
>
>	There are three forms that you may fill out (A, B, and C).

When this thing came around the first time, I posted why this whole thing
looked like a scam. Apparently other people have the same idea. So the
settlement is being contested. Note that the information in the package is
subject to it being ratified by the court. That may not happen due to the
objections being filed. Even if it does you may want to remove yourself from
the class-action suit. Following is an old UPI wire report:

>ATLANTA (UPI) -- The attorneys general of 24 states and the Virgin
>Islands joined Wednesday in filing objections to a proposed settlement
>of a price-fixing suit filed against the nation's largest airlines.
>       They also objected to the proposed $24 million payment included in
>the settlement as payment for the lawyers who filed the class-action
>suit.
>       Seven carriers -- American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines,
>Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, USAir and Trans World Airlines
>-- were named in the civil antitrust suit, which stems from alleged
>improprieties in the way airline fares were published.
>       The airlines have made no admission of wrongdoing but have agreed to
>a settlement proposal that could provide travelers with discounts
>totaling $400 million.
>       The proposed settlement -- subject to approval by the U.S. District
>Court in Atlanta -- calls for 10 percent discount coupons to be
>distributed to consumers who bought tickets for travel to or from any of
>34 major U.S. cities between Jan. 1, 1988, and June 30, of this year.
>       But the attorneys general objected to restrictions placed on use of
>the coupons under terms of the settlement proposal.
>       The coupons cannot be used in connection with already reduced fares,
>nor can they be used for travel during certain ``black-out'' periods
>around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays. In addition,
>coupons cannot be used in purchasing tickets through travel agents.
>       The attorneys general, in a joint statement, said the ban on using
>coupons for travel during ``black-out'' periods ``is akin to giving
>discount coupons to parents for purchases of toys that are redeemable at
>anytime except the child's birthday, Christmas or Hanukkah.''
>       And they said the ban on using coupons to purchase tickets from
>travel agents apparently is a move to save the airlines money.
>       ``By cutting out the 10 percent commission they normally pay travel
>agents on ticket purchases, the airlines are recovering the entire 10
>percent discount offered through the coupons,'' Pennsylvania Attorney
>General Ernie Preate Jr. told reporters in Harrisburg, Pa., in
>announcing he had joined the other attorneys general in objecting to the
>settlement proposal.
>       ``In effect, the airlines lose nothing by giving out the coupons, and
>ultimately stand to gain through increased ticket sales generated by the
>coupons,'' he said.
>       The attorneys general also objected that attorneys for plaintiffs in
>the class-action suit were being awarded $24 million in fees, noting
>that since consumers were getting discount coupons, the lawyers were the
>only people getting any cash.
>       They said attorneys fees should not be decided until after consumers
>cash in their coupons and the actual value of the settlement is
>determined.
>       The objections were filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by
>Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth. They urge the court to refuse
>to approve the settlement in its current form.
>       Other airlines not involved in the case also have complained to the
>court that ban on using the coupons for tickets purchased through travel
>agents -- and the failure to advertise that the coupons will be honored
>by other carriers -- improperly benefit the defendant airlines.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers