Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—J.P.M.L.: Price fixing suits against airlines will be arriving in Washington shortly, (Oct 14, 2015)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

In the three months since word got out that the Department of Justice was investigating possible collusion in the airline industry to limit capacity and prop up fares, dozens of antitrust lawsuits have been filed all around the country against the nation's four largest airlines. Yesterday, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) brought some order to the chaos by centralizing the litigation in the federal district court in Washington, D.C. for pretrial proceedings (In re: Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation, October 13, 2015, Rendell, M.).

The litigation consists of 23 actions pending in seven districts. In addition, there are 69 potential tag-along actions in 15 districts. All of the actions are based on allegations that American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines Co., and United Airlines conspired to fix prices for domestic airline tickets by keeping domestic flight capacity artificially low.

Although the parties supported centralization, they disagreed as to the appropriate transferee forum for the litigation. Various plaintiffs had advocated for centralization in federal district courts in Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Manhattan, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The defending air carriers supported the federal district court in Washington, D.C. or alternatively Dallas.

The JPML selected the federal district court in Washington, D.C. as the transferee district because it presented a convenient and accessible forum for the nationwide litigation. The panel selected Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to preside over the multidistrict litigation.

This is MDL No. 2656.

Attorneys: Brian D. Clark (Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP), Brian H. Eldridge (Segal, McCambridge, Singer & Mahoney) and John Reid Malkinson (Malkinson & Halpern, P.C.) for Anooshirvan Bidgoli, Barbara Hunter, and Annie Migdal. John Reid Malkinson (Malkinson & Halpern, P.C.) for Richard E. Kraft and Vincent Panfil. Garrett J. Bradley (Labaton Sucharow LLP) for State-Boston Retirement System. Christian Levis (Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart, P.C.) for Christopher Devivo, Jack Sniado, and Julia L. Holt. Angela M. Liu (Dechert LLP) for American Airlines Group Inc. and American Airlines, Inc. Quinn Colleen Shean (Dechert LLP) for Delta Air Lines, Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., United Airlines, Inc., and United Continental Holdings, Inc. Alden Lewis Atkins (Vinson & Elkins, LLP) for Southwest Airlines Co. Michael Lacovara (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP) and Sondra A. Hemeryck (Schiff Hardin LLP) for United Continental Holdings, Inc. and United Airlines, Inc. Nathaniel Owen Asher (O'Melveny & Myers LLP ) for American Airlines, Inc.

Companies: State-Boston Retirement System; American Airlines Group Inc.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Southwest Airlines Co.; United Continental Holdings, Inc.; United Airlines, Inc.; American Airlines, Inc.

Cases: Antitrust