Delta Must Defend Lawsuit Over Allegedly Selling More Than 1 Million Window Seats Without Windows

Delta Air Lines is facing a proposed class action over claims that it charged extra for seats labeled as window seats even when no window was present. The lawsuit says the airline sold certain seats on Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 aircraft as window seats without warning passengers that some of them were positioned beside a blank cabin wall.

The complaint says more than one million passengers may have paid for these seats. A judge has now refused Delta's request to dismiss the case, following a similar decision that allowed nearly identical claims against United Airlines to move forward.

Delta Said It Never Promised A Window

US District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York ruled that the passengers' breach of contract claims are not barred by federal law. The ruling rejected one of Delta's main arguments for ending the case. Delta, represented by King & Spalding, had asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed on several grounds.

According to Law360, Delta pointed to its Contract of Carriage, saying it does not promise passengers a window. The contract also says seat assignments "are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract." Delta argued that any claims based on seat maps, tickets or marketing language fall outside the contract and are therefore preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA).

The plaintiffs, represented by Greenbaum Olbrantz, argued that Delta's use of the word "window" amounts to a promise of an actual window, especially when customers pay extra for the seat. Their lawyer, Carter Greenbaum, said when the lawsuit was filed:

"They sold customers window seats and ended up seating them next to a wall."

Passengers Say They Paid Extra For Seats Beside A Blank Wall

The case, Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, was filed by Brooklyn resident Nicholas Meyer. The complaint says Meyer paid extra for window seats on a trip from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, with a connection through Delta's hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

When he boarded a Boeing 757-200 for the second part of the trip, he allegedly found that seat 23F was next to a blank cabin wall rather than a window. He then spent the roughly four-and-a-half-hour flight without the view he had paid for. The lawsuit says some seats on Delta's 737s, 757s and A321s lack windows because of air conditioning ducts and other equipment behind the panels, but passengers were not told that during booking.

The plaintiffs say they would not have chosen those seats if Delta had disclosed the missing windows. They also argue the airline could easily fix the issue by changing its booking system. The complaint notes that Delta already flags other seat restrictions during selection, such as limited recline or no under-seat storage, but does not identify seats that have no window.

That, the plaintiffs say, is different from American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, which tell customers during seat selection when a "window seat" has no window. Southwest Airlines, which has begun assigned seating, has also added a warning to its seat selection page.

United Airlines Is Facing A Similar Claim

United is also facing a similar lawsuit after failing to get the case dismissed earlier. United argued that the word "window" refers only to a seat's location beside the cabin wall, not to an actual view. It also said federal law blocked the passengers from pursuing their claims.

US District Judge James Donato rejected both arguments, saying United's ticketing terms "plausibly establish that United expressly agreed to provide a seat with a window." Both cases seek millions of dollars in damages, along with changes to how the airlines label and advertise seats that do not actually have a window.