Quntas settles US cargo cartel case

QANTAS has agreed to pay a US$26.5 million settlement for an air cargo price-fixing cartel.
The investigation into 19 airlines concerns their freight operations from 2006 and was initiated by Paradiso, a Californian women's clothing retailer. Paradiso, acting on behalf of itself and other importers of goods, claimed the carriers illegally conspired to fix, raise or maintain surcharges levied after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the first Iraq was in 2003.

As a result of the defendants unlawful conduct and conspiracy, plaintiff and other members of the class paid artificially high surcharges and have been damaged thereby Paradiso said.
In return for agreeing to the settlement and for cooperating by providing documents and information to plaintiff counsel, Qantas was declared exempt from further claims from direct purchasers of its air cargo services to and from the US between 2001 and 2006.
Qantas also revealed the settlements agreed by the other airlines, namely: Air France - KLM $87 million, Lufthansa $85 million, Cargolux Airlines International $35.2 million, Scandinavian Airlines $13.9 million, Japan Airlines $12 million, All Nippon Airways $10.4 million and American Airlines will pay $5 million.
In a statement, Qantas said: Qantas continues to cooperate fully with global antitrust regulators and has resolved its liability(and that of its current employees) in the US, Australia, Canada, Korea and Europe for the improper conduct of its freight division. In each case the fine imposed on Qantas reflected a considerable cooperation discount.
Qantas is now free of such cases in the US but still faces a $200 million class action brought against it in Australia.