British Airways to pay $89.5m to settle air cargo suit

British Airways Plc said on Tuesday it will pay $89.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing it and more than two dozen other airlines of conspiring to fix the price of air-cargo freight shipping.

Plaintiffs in the same litigation have also reached a $66m settlement with Lan Airlines SA, LAN Cargo SA and Aerolinhas Brasileiras SA, all South American airlines.

The settlement offers are still subject to approval in the Brooklyn federal court where the lawsuits have been consolidated. No date has been set yet for the fairness hearing before US District Judge John Gleeson.

A spokeswoman for British Airways, which merged with Spain's Iberia last year to form International Airlines Group, said the company was pleased to have reached a settlement.

Michael Hausfeld, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said the two settlements represented "yet another excellent result" for the class plaintiffs.

"We will continue our efforts to pursue recoveries for the huge number of victims of this cartel both in the US and around the world," Hausfeld said. "It is long overdue that the companies found to have engaged in price-fixing by public enforcement agencies make restitution to all of their victims, everywhere in the world."

In 2006, more than 90 civil lawsuits were filed against more than two dozen airlines accusing them of conspiring to raise air-cargo freight rates. In all, 42 airlines have been named in the suits.

So far, nine similar civil settlements have been reached with the class-action plaintiffs, for a total of $367.9m to direct purchasers of air-cargo services. Five of those settlements have been approved; the others are still awaiting court approval.

The civil complaints originated from a US Department of Justice investigation into a number of airlines suspected of violating antitrust rules with the air cargo industry. So far, 20 airlines have reached plea agreements with the DOJ, worth more than $1.7 billion.