Airlines Sued for Charging Extra for Windowless Window Seats
Two major airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, are facing legal action from passengers who paid extra for “window seats” that turned out to have no windows. Class-action lawsuits were filed against Delta in Brooklyn, New York, and against United in San Francisco, representing over a million passengers for each airline and seeking millions in damages.
The issue involves certain aircraft, including Boeing 737s, Boeing 757s, and Airbus A321s, where seats typically expected to have windows are instead positioned next to a blank wall due to air conditioning ducts or electrical components. Unlike competitors such as Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, which clearly mark these windowless seats during booking, Delta and United allegedly fail to disclose this, even when charging passengers additional fees, sometimes ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars.
Passengers choose window seats for various reasons, such as alleviating flight anxiety, reducing motion sickness, entertaining children, or enjoying natural light and views. The lawsuits claim that passengers would not have selected or paid extra for these seats had they known there were no windows. The Delta lawsuit is led by Nicholas Meyer of Brooklyn, while the United lawsuit is led by Marc Brenman of San Francisco and Aviva Copaken of Los Angeles. Copaken noted that United refunded her for windowless seats on two flights but not for a third.
Based in Atlanta, Delta, and Chicago, United, have not yet commented on the lawsuits. Airlines often rely on revenue from seat selection fees, baggage charges, and other services to offset lower base fares. While tools like SeatGuru allow passengers to research seat details, Carter Greenbaum, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, argues that third-party resources do not excuse the airlines’ failure to disclose windowless seats. “A company cannot misrepresent its products and then rely on external reviews to claim customers should have known better,” Greenbaum stated.
The cases are formally titled Meyer v. Delta Air Lines Inc, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 25-04608, and Brenman et al v. United Airlines Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 25-06995.
This article was written by Will & edited with AI assistance.
