Passengers take Delta and United to court over windowless window seats

Two major US airlines are now facing serious legal trouble after passengers discovered they were paying extra money for window seats that had no windows at all. ABC News reports that United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are both dealing with separate class-action lawsuits filed by angry customers who felt cheated by this practice. The legal cases claim that both airlines charged passengers additional fees for what they called "window seats" but failed to tell customers that some of these seats sit next to blank walls instead of actual windows.

According to ABC News, the airlines did not warn passengers during the booking process that certain seats labeled as window seats would not provide any view outside the aircraft. The lawsuits are seeking millions of dollars in damages and refunds for all the extra fees that passengers paid, thinking they would get a seat with a window view.

This problem occurs sometimes because of how modern airplanes are built, the BBC explains in its coverage of the legal cases. Some Boeing and Airbus passenger planes have seats that do not have windows simply because of where important airplane parts are located, such as air conditioning systems, electrical wires, and other necessary equipment. BBC reports that both Delta and United describe “window seats” as any seat on the sides of planes, which also includes seats without actual windows.

The court documents show that passengers often choose window seats for many different reasons, including helping with fear of flying, reducing motion sickness, keeping children busy during flights, or simply enjoying the view from high up in the sky. According to reports, many of these passengers would never have picked these seats or paid extra money for them if they had known there would be no window to look through.

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The lawsuits were filed on Tuesday, August 19, by a law firm called Greenbaum Olbrantz. People magazine notes that the legal action covers potentially over one million customers from each airline. According to People, other airlines like American Airlines and Alaska Airlines operate similar types of aircraft, but they do tell customers during booking if a seat does not have a window view. People reported that passengers have been complaining about this issue on social media for years, sharing photos and stories about their disappointing experiences with windowless window seats.

The complaint documents explain that for many travelers, looking out the window is a special part of flying, whether it is watching the world from 30,000 feet up or seeing famous airports during landing. The lawyers representing the passengers say this practice is unfair and breaks the law because it tricks customers into paying more money for something they are not actually getting, and they want the airlines to either fix their booking systems or pay back the money to affected passengers.