Thursday, April 30, 2015

US Air Freight Cartel Scandal Continues Ever Onward with 99 Million Dollar Payout

Another Antitrust Settlement in a Case Seemingly Without End
Shipping News Feature

US – WORLDWIDE – Eva Airways Corporation (EVA) has entered in to a settlement agreement in the multidistrict class action (Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, 06-MD-1775 (JG) VVP) against air cargo carriers currently underway in New York. Subject to court approval, Eva Airways will pay $99 million to settle allegations that it colluded with several competitors to fix inflated surcharges on air freight shipping services to and from the US, effectively acting as a cartel.

To date, most plaintiffs have so far entered into settlements ,with twenty four defendants costs totalling $1.04 billion, of which, settlements with seventeen defendant groups for $485.5 million have been granted final approval. Only four carriers would appear to have yet to enter into any sort of settlement arrangements: Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, and Polar Air.

It had been alleged that between, at the very least 2000 and 2006, a group of air cargo carriers colluded to levy inflated surcharges, such as unwarranted fuel surcharges, to eliminate or prevent discounting of air cargo shipping services, to agree on yields, and to allocate customers or routes to chosen carriers, thereby violating antitrust laws in various countries around the world, including Korea, Australia, and Canada, to name but a few.

In what is proving to be a very lengthy series of articles readers can see the ever longer catalogue of crimes of this nature by simply typing a suitable keyword, such as cartel, into the News Search box at the head of the page.