LEXINGTON, Ky. -- ARTA said it collected objections from at least
850 travel agents that oppose Lufthansa's offer to settle claims
against it in the Sarah Hall class-action suit against the major
airlines.
"We've got a great, great, great response," said John Hawks,
president of ARTA, which opposes the deal. "We are very happy."
ARTA and the United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR),
established a Web site, www.airlinesettlement.com, outlining their
reasons why travel agents should rejected the offer.
Hawks said agents, both ARTA and non-ARTA members, filed their
objections at the site.
ARTA said it intends to file the objections during a fairness
hearing at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North
Carolina, Southern Division, Sept. 2.
During the hearing, presiding judge W. Earl Britt will consider
the objections and determine whether the Lufthansa settlement is
fair to all parties.
Meanwhile, Hawks said Hall's lawyers were planning to meet with
ARTA's board of directors on Saturday during their board meeting
Denver, Colo.
The lawyers are expected to review the settlement offer with the
board.
"I don't think it is going to change the board's opinion," Hawks
said.
The Lufthansa settlement offer is the first reached in the two-year
old lawsuit that alleges the airlines engaged in anti-competitive
behavior when they cut and later eliminated travel agent
commissions.
Hall, a travel agent and owner of Wilmington, N.C.-headquartered
Travel Specialist, initiated the lawsuit against the carriers in
December 1999.
As part of the settlement, Lufthansa said it would create a
bonus program, enabling agencies that don't have contractual
relationship with Lufthansa to earn up to a $100 bonus for each
Lufthansa transatlantic roundtrip ticket sold beginning Jan. 1.
Hall's attorneys, who described the Lufthansa settlement as a
"win-win," said the deal establishes a framework for an improved
business relationship between airlines and agents.
But ARTA, which has two members as co-plaintiffs in the Hall
class action, contends travel agents are less interested in
settlements and more interested in having their day in court.
To contact reporter Michael Milligan, send e-mail to [email protected].