EL AL settles US price-fixing class action for US$15.8 million

Settlement involved 38 other carriers and is related to air cargo rates
 
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. agreed to pay US$15.8 million to settle a class-action suit in New York over a claim that the company, and 38 other carriers, engaged in price-fixing scheme in the United States on air cargo rates. The payment will be to scores shippers.
 
The carrier has agreed to cooperate in the ongoing case against the remaining defendant. El Al noted the settlement should not be construed as an admission of guilt.
 The deal, which must be approved by a federal judge in New York, covers alleged price fixing by El Al and more than 20 Asian, European and Latin American airlines from 2000 to 2006.
 
The airline has already paid out $9.8 million of the settlement proceeds. According to the terms, the agreement represents a full settlement of any claims involving cargo pricing within the United States, or to, or from the United States, at any time before the settlement.
 
El Al is the sixteenth carrier to agree to a settlement, bringing the total recovery to nearly US$480 million.