$100 Million From Polar Air Cargo and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Will be the Second Largest Payment From Any Settlement in the Litigation WASHINGTON, Jan. 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)—Hausfeld, a global claimants’ law firm dedicated to handling complex litigation, announces that it has reached another settlement on behalf of the class in the Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Hausfeld attorneys serve as Co-Lead Counsel in the case. Polar Air Cargo, LLC, Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., the most recent defendants to settle the litigation, have agreed to pay $100 million to direct purchasers of air cargo shipping services. This will be the second-largest payment from any settlement in the litigation. Settlements now total over $1.1 billion:
Defendant Settlement Amount
Lufthansa 85,000,000.00
Air France/KLM/Martinair 87,000,000.00
American Airlines 5,000,000.00
Japan Airlines 12,000,000.00
SAS 13,930,000.00
All Nippon Airways 10,400,000.00
Cargolux 35,100,000.00
Qantas 26,500,000.00
Thai Airways 3,500,000.00
British Airways 89,512,000.00
Lan/ABSA 66,000,000.00
Malaysia Airlines 3,200,000.00
South African Airways 3,290,000.00
Saudia 14,000,000.00
Emirates 7,833,000.00
El Al Israel Airlines 15,800,000.00
Air Canada 7,500,000.00
Korean Air 115,000,000.00
Singapore Air 92,492,442.00
Cathay Pacific 65,000,000.00
China Airlines 90,000,000.00
Nippon Cargo Airlines 36,350,000.00
Asiana Airlines 55,000,000.00
EVA Airways 99,000,000.00
Polar Air Cargo/Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings 100,000,000.00
Total 1,138,407,442.00
According to Brent Landau, Partner at Hausfeld, “We are very proud of what we have accomplished in this case over the past ten years, most importantly the significant compensation we have obtained for victims of this worldwide cartel.” The case continues against the three airline defendants remaining in the case: Air China, Air India, and Air New Zealand. Last year, the district court granted certification of a class of direct purchasers of air cargo shipping services, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to hear an interlocutory appeal of that ruling. The district court also denied the defendants’ motions for summary judgment and granted summary judgment motions filed by the plaintiffs. A trial is set for September 2016. Nearly half of the original defendants in the civil action brought by Hausfeld and other law firms in February 2006 pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to fix the price of shipping goods by air to and from the United States. The plaintiffs allege that the cartel increased global shipping prices. Hausfeld LLP attorneys working on this case include Michael Hausfeld, Brent Landau, Hilary Scherrer, and Melinda Coolidge.