{"id":2060854,"date":"2023-10-09T17:07:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T21:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/delta-agrees-to-27-million-class-settlement-over-14000-fliers-eligible\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T21:10:08","slug":"delta-agrees-to-27-million-class-settlement-over-14000-fliers-eligible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/delta-agrees-to-27-million-class-settlement-over-14000-fliers-eligible\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta settles for $27M, 14K fliers qualify."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdelta-agrees-to-27-million-class-settlement-over-14000-fliers-eligible%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2060854&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>Delta Airlines has agreed to pay more than\u2063 $27\u2062 million in refunds to\u2063 passengers whose flights were\u200b canceled during \u2064the pandemic \u2062but were denied refunds. This class-action \u2062settlement was reached between\u200d Delta \u2064Airlines and the plaintiff in May \u2064and received final \u200bapproval \u2063from the \u200bU.S. District Court\u200d of \u200dthe Northern District\u2062 of Georgia, Atlanta, on Oct. 5. The agreement states that \u200celigible members of the settlement class \u200bwill\u200d receive \u2064a total of $27.31 million from Delta.<\/p>\n<p>The settlement specifically applies to \u2062Americans who had \u2062their flights canceled by Delta during \u200cthe COVID-19 period and were given credits instead of cash refunds.\u200b This decision comes after \u2064Delta initially \u200crefused to \u200bprovide refunds to these passengers.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/major-us-airlines-discover-unapproved-jet-engine-parts-installed-in-aircraft-5505213?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Major US Airlines Discover \u2063Unapproved Jet Engine Parts \u2064Installed in Aircraft<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; 10\/6\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/article\/united-airlines-will-make-changes-for-people-with-wheelchairs-after-a-government-investigation-5500513?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>United\u2063 Airlines Will Make Changes for People\u2063 With Wheelchairs After a Government\u200d Investigation<\/strong><\/a>  \u2064- 9\/28\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To be eligible for \u2062the settlement, individuals must\u2064 have\u200b purchased tickets from Delta for \u200bflights between March 1, 2020, and April\u2062 30, \u200c2021. They must\u200d also\u200d meet\u2062 three conditions: their flight must have been canceled by \u200cDelta, they must have requested a refund and not\u2063 received it, and they\u200b must have \u200chad \u200bunused or\u200d partially unused\u2063 credit as of \u2062Jan. 13, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the \u200d$27.31 \u2062million in refunds, Delta will also pay 7 percent interest on this amount, as well as cover litigation costs, settlement \u2064administration costs, and attorneys&#8217;\u200d fees, bringing the total amount paid \u2064by Delta to $29.89\u200d million.<\/p>\n<p>Out of\u200c the \u200b74,346 eligible settlement class members, around 19\u200d percent submitted claims to the\u200b settlement administrator by the Sept.\u200c 15 deadline.<\/p>\n<p>If the\u200d settlement had not been reached,\u200d the\u200b court noted that the litigation process would have been significantly delayed, as\u2062 Delta denied any\u200b wrongdoing\u2062 or\u2062 liability.\u200b The court stated that continuing with litigation would\u200d have required \u200covercoming various obstacles\u2062 and potentially facing a lengthy appeals process.<\/p>\n<p>Any remaining funds from the settlement \u2062will be divided equally between Public \u200dJustice, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/delta-agrees-to-27-million-class-settlement-over-14000-fliers-eligible\/\" title=\"Delta settles for M, 14K fliers qualify.\">nonprofit legal advocacy organization<\/a>, and \u200cUnited \u200dWay of Greater\u200c Atlanta, a children&#8217;s charity.<\/p>\n<p>A Delta spokesperson clarified that the airline does not admit or acknowledge any \u2062failure to follow its contract of \u200dcarriage\u200b or provide refunds as stated in \u200dthe settlement \u2063agreement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;Since the beginning of 2020, Delta refunded over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/delta-issued-6-billion-in-refunds-since-2020-due-to-flight-disruption\/\" title=\"Delta issued  billion in refunds since 2020 due to flight disruption\">11 million tickets totaling  billion<\/a>, of which 20 percent took place in 2022.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Lawsuit, Refunds<\/h2>\n<p>The class-action \u200clawsuit leading to this settlement was filed by plaintiff Angela Dusko in\u200d April 2020. \u200bThe lawsuit was a \u2062result \u2064of Delta\u200b canceling flights during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Airplanes\u200d sit on the tarmac\u2063 at Charlotte Douglas International\u2062 Airport \u200bwith the city \u200dskyline in the background in \u200dCharlotte, N.C., on April\u2063 21, 2020. \u200c(Streeter Lecka\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In December 2019, Ms. Dusko purchased roundtrip tickets \u2063from Delta for\u2064 $2,783.24. The trip was scheduled for March 27, 2020, with the return travel set for\u200c April 3.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u2063on March 25, \u200cDelta informed\u200b Ms. Dusko that the outbound\u2064 flight was \u200ccanceled and attempted to rebook \u200bher tickets. The next day, \u200dshe was \u2063informed that the tickets had been rebooked for March 28.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Dusko \u200ccontacted Delta&#8217;s customer service and expressed her desire for a full refund instead of being rebooked. However,\u2064 the \u2064customer\u2064 service representative\u200d denied her\u200d request, stating that if she chose not to take\u200c the rebooked flight, she would\u200b only receive flight vouchers, not a refund.<\/p>\n<p>Airlines\u2064 are obligated to provide refunds to passengers\u2063 if the flight cancellation is initiated by the airline. Ms. Dusko filed \u200ba lawsuit, which \u2063eventually led to\u2063 the current settlement.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit argued that\u2063 Delta failed to\u200d fulfill its \u200bcontractual obligations and did not cooperate with passengers regarding \u200bflight cancellations and \u200brefunds.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit filed \u2064by Ms.\u200b Dusko was consolidated with other similar cases, including \u200cone from a teacher who paid $2,400 for nine student flights\u200d that were canceled\u200c and another from an individual who spent over\u200d $3,000 on flights to Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. \u2063Department\u200b of\u200b Transportation (DOT), consumers are entitled to \u200da refund if their flight is canceled by the \u200cairline\u2063 and they choose \u2062not\u200b to \u2063travel. If an\u200c airline or ticket agent refuses to provide a refund, a\u2062 complaint can be filed with the DOT.<\/p>\n<p>Airlines and agents are \u200brequired to \u2063issue refunds \u200bwithin seven\u2064 business days for\u200d credit \u200ccard\u200c payments and \u2063within \u206320 days for cash or check payments.<\/p>\n<p>Last \u2063year, the DOT\u2064 reported that airlines paid over $600 million in\u200c refunds \u200cto passengers for \u200dcanceled or significantly changed flights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> Who is eligible \u200dfor the settlement and what are the conditions they must meet?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Delta Airlines Agrees to $27 Million Settlement for Refund Denials During\u2063 Pandemic<\/p>\n<p>Delta Airlines has reached a settlement\u2064 in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuomo-to-partially-reopen-indoor-dining-in-nyc-for-valentines-day-if-positivity-rates-hold\/\" title=\"Cuomo To Partially Reopen Indoor Dining In NYC For Valentine\u2019s Day, \u2018If Positivity Rates Hold\u2019\">class-action lawsuit<\/a> and agreed\u2064 to pay over $27 million \u200din refunds \u200dto passengers whose \u2064flights \u200bwere canceled during the\u200b COVID-19 pandemic but were denied refunds. The settlement, which was approved by the U.S. District Court of\u2064 the\u2062 Northern District of\u2063 Georgia, Atlanta, on October 5, specifies\u2062 that eligible members of the \u200dsettlement class will receive a total of $27.31 million from Delta.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2064 settlement pertains specifically to American passengers who had\u200d their flights\u200d canceled by Delta during the COVID-19\u2064 period and were given credits instead of cash refunds. This decision comes after Delta initially refused\u200d to\u200c provide refunds to\u200b these passengers.<\/p>\n<p>To be eligible for the settlement, individuals must have purchased tickets from \u200dDelta for flights between March 1, 2020, and April 30,\u200b 2021. They must also meet three conditions: their flight must have been canceled by Delta, they must have requested a refund and not received it, and they must have had unused or\u2062 partially unused\u200c credits as of January 13, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the $27.31 million in refunds, Delta will also pay 7 percent\u2064 interest on this amount, as well as cover litigation costs, settlement administration costs, and attorneys&#8217;\u200c fees, bringing \u200cthe total amount paid\u2062 by Delta to $29.89 million.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the 74,346 eligible\u200b settlement \u2063class members, approximately 19 percent submitted claims to the settlement \u200cadministrator\u200b by the September 15 deadline.<\/p>\n<p>The court \u2063noted that if the settlement had not been reached,\u2062 the litigation \u200cprocess would have been significantly delayed, \u2063as Delta denied any wrongdoing\u2063 or liability.\u200d Continuing with litigation would have\u200c required overcoming \u2062various obstacles and potentially facing a lengthy appeals process.<\/p>\n<p>Any remaining funds from the settlement will be\u2063 divided \u2063equally \u2063between Public Justice,\u2062 a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, and United Way of Greater Atlanta, a children&#8217;s charity.<\/p>\n<p>A Delta spokesperson\u200d clarified that the airline\u2062 does\u200b not admit or acknowledge any failure to follow its contract of carriage or provide refunds\u200d as \u200bstated in the\u2064 settlement \u200cagreement.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate statement, \u2064Delta highlighted that since the beginning of 2020, the airline has refunded over \u200b11\u200c million tickets, amounting\u2063 to $6 billion, with 20\u2064 percent of those refunds occurring in \u200b2022.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b class-action lawsuit leading \u200dto this settlement was filed \u2064by plaintiff Angela Dusko in April 2020, as a result of Delta canceling flights during \u200bthe COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>This settlement brings some relief to affected passengers,\u2063 as they can now receive the refunds they were\u2062 initially denied. It serves as a reminder to airlines that they have a responsibility to provide appropriate refunds to customers when flights \u200care canceled, especially during unprecedented events such as a\u2063 global \u200bpandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delta Airlines has agreed to pay more than $27 million in refunds to passengers whose flights were canceled due to the pandemic. However, the company has refused to provide refunds. The class-action settlement was reached in May between Delta Airlines and the plaintiff. The U.S. District Court in Atlanta has granted a preliminary approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":2060855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2060854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2060855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2060854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2060854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2060854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}