Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Polar Air Cargo settles price fixing action for $100M, (Jan 8, 2016)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

Polar Air Cargo and its parent company, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, have agreed to pay $100 million to settle allegations in multi-district litigation that the companies conspired with other airlines to fix the prices of air freight shipping services, according to an announcement by the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel, Hausfeld LLP (In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, Case no. 1:06-md-01775).

Direct purchasers of air freight shipping services filed a series of class action suits against Polar Air Cargo, Atlas Air, and other airlines, alleging that the air freight carriers conspired to unlawfully fix the prices of air freight shipping services worldwide, including cargo shipments to and from the United States, by concertedly levying artificially inflated surcharges.

In July 2015, the district court granted certification of a class of airfreight shipping services direct purchasers. The court also granted summary judgment motions filed the plaintiffs and denied the defendants’ motions for summary judgment.

According to the announcement, Polar Air Cargo and Atlas Air are the most recent defendants to settle the litigation, which brings the total amount of settlements in the case to over $1.1 billion. The settlement with Polar Air Cargo and Atlas Air will be the second-largest payment from any settlement in the litigation.

The litigation continues against three remaining airline defendants—Air China, Air India, and Air New Zealand. A trial is set for September 2016.

Companies: Polar Air Cargo, LLC; Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

News: Antitrust NewYorkNews