Passengers v British Airways, Virgin
British Airways and Virgin Sued Over Price-Fixing Conspiracy
British Airways and Virgin have been hit with a potentially damaging and expensive class-action lawsuit over an alleged price-fixing conspiracy.
The filing of the lawsuit follows an admission by BA that it was under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading and the American Department of Justice. The probe centers on allegations of price-fixing related to fuel surcharges on long-haul flights.
The lawsuit claims that BA, Virgin, and other unnamed airlines operated a "global conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize prices on long-haul passenger flights to and from the United Kingdom".
The lawsuit also claims Virgin and BA's introduction of fuel surcharges was agreed upon and lists surcharge rises over the past two years, claiming the pair worked in a "cartel", with increases progressing in a "lockstep pattern".
"(BA and Virgin) implemented their agreement by exchanging information in secret communications between defendants included telephone conversations between British Airways head of communications Iain Burns and his counterparts at Virgin," the claim said.
