Delta Air Lines and United Airlines each face a class-action lawsuit where passengers accuse them of charging more for window seats that didn’t have any windows. Law firm Greenbaum Olbrantz filed both suits in federal courts in New York and California.
“We have received a flood of interest from passengers who feel they have been harmed by this practice and who wish to join the lawsuits,” Casey Olbrantz, founding partner with Greenbaum Olbrantz, told Straight Arrow News. “It makes sense that people are upset. The majority of Americans fly on one of these airlines at some point and a large proportion of them want or need a window, and they pay good money for the privilege.”
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Delta lawsuit
The lawsuit against Delta accuses them of up-charging for window seats but are actually next to a blank wall.
“Plaintiff and the proposed class members paid valuable additional consideration to obtain a window to improve their flying experiences,” the lawsuit reads. “Delta indicated to the Plaintiff and class members that the particular seats they chose had a ‘window,’ even though Delta knew full well they did not.”
The lawsuit accuses Delta of this practice for several years. The court documents include several images of seats without a window compared to the offering on the Delta website.
“Inexplicably, however, Delta declines to disclose the presence of Windowless Seats,” the complaint reads. “Instead, it charges a premium for them, and routinely declines to refund passengers.”
The suit also cites Reddit and X as having numerous complaints about the issue, and claims other airlines like Alaska and American disclose rows that do not have windows.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue this is a breach of contract with customers.
Delta has not responded to Straight Arrow News’ request for comment.
United lawsuit
The lawsuit against United is very similar to the one against Delta.
“For many years, United has knowingly and routinely sold windowless ‘window’ seats to consumers,” the complaint reads.
Much like the Delta suit, these documents also have pictures of the windowless seats next to an image of the same seat on the United website.
The suit also cites several airline responses to customers on social media where the airline said “we never guaranteed you will get a window.”
The suit also included screen grabs of customer complaints on social media.
When asked about the lawsuit, United told Straight Arrow News they do not comment on pending litigation.
“The lawsuits seek to recover the value of the extra money or benefits that all passengers paid to United or Delta for the purpose of ‘upgrading’ to a window seat that was actually windowless,” Olbrantz said. “Discovery will reveal the precise numbers, but we estimate that the overall number of affected passengers is in the millions.”
