March 28, 2015
In Re: International Air Transportation Surcharge Antitrust Litigation
The plaintiffs (a class of international air passengers) filed suit against four airlines (American, United, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways) alleging that the airlines conspired to set the level of fuel surcharges on routes between the U.S. and the UK.
Econ One was retained by counsel for the plaintiff class to measure damages owed to class members for use in settlement discussions. Russell Lamb directed an analysis of 20 gigabytes of electronic data that contained records on more than 17 million coupons for Virgin Atlantic flights and more than 70 million coupons for British Airways flights. Dr. Lamb developed a regression model to measure the damages owed to class members that relied on ticket-level data controlling for advance purchases, Saturday night stays, and other factors affecting airline fares. This analysis, which Dr. Lamb testified about at a mediation hearing, contributed to a settlement result for class members of more than $200 million.