Lawsuits Accuse 7 US Airlines Of Colluding To Raise Fares By Sharing Pricing Data

Lawsuits filed in the US accuse seven major airlines—including American, Delta, Southwest, United, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue—of colluding to raise domestic fares by sharing confidential pricing data. The larger case was filed on November 4 in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Plaintiffs claim the arrangement used tools that let airlines track rivals’ searches and match price cuts quickly, removing incentives to offer cheaper tickets. At the center of the allegations is ATPCO, described as enabling “information exchange,” and its subsidiary 3Victors, whose products include Iris (collecting airline shopping and pricing data) and PriceEye (comparing competitors’ prices). A separate DOJ case in 1992 previously alleged coordination through ATPCO, estimated to have cost travelers up to $1.9 billion from 1988–1992.