Air China and Air China Cargo have agreed to pay a US$50 million settlement as part of the ongoing Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, per Kaplan Fox and Kilsheimer, the law firm that has been involved in the class action for almost 10 years. Along with co-counsel Robins Kaplan LLP, over 12 million pages of documents had to be analyzed in the course of the litigation.
To date, plaintiffs in the long-running case have entered into settlements with 26 defendant air carriers, totaling $1.19 billion. Of that total, 22 defendants have settled for an aggregate amount of $848 million which has been granted final approval by the court.
Two defendants, Air India Ltd. and Air New Zealand Ltd., still have not settled. Plaintiffs are preparing for a September 2016 trial against them. Kaplan Fox serves as one of four co-lead attorneys representing a class of direct purchasers from defendants of air cargo shipping services, for shipments to or from the United States between January 1, 2000, and September 30, 2006, seeking compensation for alleged overcharges sustained as a result of a price-fixing conspiracy alleged against more than two dozen airlines.