Southwest to pay $15m to settle collusion lawsuit

Southwest has agreed to pay US$15m to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the largest four US carriers colluded on capacity plans. The carrier will also provide "significant cooperation" to the plaintiffs in their claims against three other carriers American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, according to a court filing. The class action suit, which was filed in 2015, accuses the four major US airlines of conspiring to fix prices through colluding on capacity plans. Southwest says the $15m settlement allows the airline to "forgo the considerable time, expense, and inconvenience that continued litigation would have involved". "We have always vigorously denied any unlawful conduct or agreements with other airlines. That is still very much our position," says the carrier. American says it plans to continue defending against the claims in the lawsuit, calling them "without merit". Delta declines to comment on the litigation. United did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In addition to the $15m settlement in the class action lawsuit, Southwest has agreed to provide further information to the plaintiffs and facilitate meetings between them and Southwest executives, according to court filings.<br/>