United, Delta Facing Lawsuits Over Allegedly Unfair Windowless ‘Window’ Seat Fees

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Two proposed class action lawsuits respectively claim that United Airlines, Inc. and Delta Air Lines, Inc. have charged premium prices for windowless seats that the airlines have misrepresented as having windows.

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The class action lawsuits allege that United and Delta have misled consumers during the seat selection process by representing on their respective websites or apps that every wall-adjacent seat has a window, even though certain ostensible “window” seats are in fact next to a blank wall. The suits assert that consumers often specifically pay or upgrade to sit next to a window on a flight and argue that they would not have done so had they known they were being charged a premium for a windowless seat.

According to the United and Delta lawsuits, various models in the airlines’ respective fleets—including the Boeing 737-series and Airbus A321-series aircraft and Delta’s Boeing 757-series planes—are built with at least one wall-adjacent seat that doesn’t have a window. This is typically due to the positioning of air conditioning ducts, mid-cabin overwing exit areas or door plugs, electrical conduits or other components, the cases explain.

Given that hundreds of these planes make multiple flights per day, the airlines have each likely sold more than a million windowless “window” seats to unsuspecting consumers, the complaints claim.

United and Delta routinely charge extra for window seats as compared to middle seats, the filings say. To select a window seat, passengers can upgrade to a higher ticket tier, cash in rewards program credits, use credit card benefits or pay a fee, the suits relay.

For instance, the United lawsuit shares that the airline’s fee to select a basic economy window seat on a domestic flight often exceeds $50. Similarly, a Delta basic economy traveler may shell out more than $30 for a window seat, the Delta complaint states.

The filings contend that consumers who make these particular seat selections and pay additional fees do not expect to find that their “window” seat lacks a physical window.

Other airlines that operate similar planes with windowless “window” seats disclose to consumers that the seat has no window view during the purchasing process, the lawsuits point out. The cases allege that United and Delta at no time warn customers that a window seat may be windowless, nor do the airlines provide an option to verify if a selected seat has a window or to preview or confirm the plane’s physical configuration before completing the booking.

The complaints argue that by advertising and charging extra for windowless “window” seats, United and Delta have breached their contracts with passengers.

The lawsuits look to represent all individuals and entities in the United States that purchased airfare from United or Delta and remitted additional consideration to select a window seat but received a windowless one.

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