2 major airlines sued for selling ‘window seats’ that didn’t have windows
(TNS) — Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were sued earlier this week by passengers who said that they paid extra money to get a “window seat,” only to face a blank wall.
The lawsuits were filed in federal court on Tuesday and seek millions of dollars in damages for over a million passengers that flew on these airlines.
The complaint states that Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 planes have some rows that don’t have window seats due to air conditioning ducts, electrical outlets or other items.
The plaintiffs said the airlines do not flag these seats as being windowless although other airlines, like Alaska Airlines, do.
“Had plaintiffs and the class members known that the seats they were purchasing (were) windowless, they would not have selected them — much less have paid extra,” the United complaint said, according to Reuters.
Both lawsuits note that people pick window seats for a variety or reasons, including to combat airsickness, address fear of flying or keep a child occupied.
While customers can use third-party websites like SeatGuru to find these types of windowless seats, lawyer Carter Greenbaum, whose firm filed both lawsuits, said that doesn’t excuse the two airlines behavior.
“A company can’t misrepresent the nature of the products it sells and then rely on third party reviews to say a customer should have known that it was lying,” he said in an email to Reuters.