Advertising Law Blog

United and Delta hit with separate complaints

Delta Air Lines is facing a proposed class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York that accuses the airline of charging passengers additional fees for window seats that were located next to a wall. A similar lawsuit was filed by the same law firm on the same day against United Airlines in the Northern District of California.

The Delta case was filed on August 19th by Nicholas Meyer, a Brooklyn resident who purchased Delta tickets for an August 2025 trip from New York to California. According to the complaint, Meyer paid a higher fare for window seats on both legs of his trip. While his first flight included a window, his seat on the return flight was next to a “blank wall,” to use the words of his complaint. Meyer claims Delta knowingly sold him and other members of the potential class a “window” seat that did not provide a view.

Both lawsuits allege that the defendant airlines have long been aware that certain aircrafts, including Boeing 737s, 757s and Airbus A321s, contain rows where windows are absent due to the presence of ductwork or other equipment. Despite this, Delta’s website and mobile app allegedly continued to sell these seats as window seats and charged passengers extra to reserve them. Meyer says he flew home from California on a Boeing 757.

Both lawsuits praise American Airlines and Alaska Airlines for notifying passengers during booking when a seat located against a wall lacks an accompanying window. Delta, on the other hand, provides disclosures in other situations, such as limited seat recline or no under-seat storage, but according to Meyer, that airline refuses to add a similar warning to consumers prior to their purchase of windowless seats. The United lawsuit claims that airline’s app labels the seats in question as “window” but does not provide any disclaimer or indication that there is no actual window.

As for the financial loss, Meyer argues that he paid Delta approximately $70 extra for a window seat. The United lawsuit alleges window seats cost an extra $46 to $170 per flight.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Delta lawsuit contains only one cause of action, for breach of contract, with no claim under a consumer protection statute. The United lawsuit contained three additional claims beyond breach of contract: breach of self-imposed undertaking, breach of implied contract and unfair competition under California law.

The lawsuits will be a risky proposition for the two defendants because the proposed class of plaintiffs would be nationwide if certified and would therefore include thousands of travelers who bought these mislabeled seats. If successful, the lawsuits would prompt greater transparency in how airlines describe seat options, particularly as premium seat selection fees continue to rise in the industry.