Travel technology company Amadeus settled a lawsuit led by seven US flyers purportedly on behalf of the American ticket-buying public by agreeing to pay US$3 million in fees to plaintiff’s attorneys in return for no longer having to defend itself against the charges, stated a filing in New York federal court.
The suit alleged that Amadeus colluded with its peer companies Sabre and Travelport to wrangle advantageous content distribution contracts with airlines. The suit accused the three companies of strong-arming airlines into accepting excessive fees, which were passed along to US consumers via allegedly higher airfares.
The flyers filed their case in July 2015 with the hope of getting the lawsuit certified as a class action, representing all US ticket buyers in recent years. The seven flyers will get US$500 each out of the US$3 million settlement by Amadeus, while the plaintiffs’ attorneys get the rest.
In November 2018, the EU opened a similar antitrust case against Amadeus.
