Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled today against a Minnesota flier who was stripped of his elite status and miles by Northwest after they said he complained too much. The flier said Northwest did not act in good faith and was trying to cut costs because of its merger with Delta. Delta confirmed the NWA argument that he was cut off because of his constant complaints.
From Yahoo! News / AP (thanks Mark for sharing with PMTTP readers):
The court said in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that the federal deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 prohibits most lawsuits like the one filed by Ginsberg. The frequent flier program is clearly connected to the airline’s prices, routes or services, which are covered under the Airline Deregulation Act, Alito said.
The flier and his wife flew almost exclusively on Northwest, logging roughly 75 flights a year to travel across the U.S. and abroad to give lectures and take part in conferences on education and administration. He said he flew on Northwest even when other airlines offered comparable or better flights and in 2005, reached the highest level of the WorldPerks program. Northwest cut him off in 2008, shortly after Northwest and Delta agreed to merge. Ginsberg said Northwest was looking to get rid of the high-mileage customers.
Northwest says he complained 24 times in a seven-month period, including nine instances of luggage that turned up late on airport baggage carousels. Northwest said that before it took action, it awarded Ginsberg $1,925 in travel credit vouchers, 78,500 bonus miles, a voucher for his son and $491 in cash reimbursements. The airline pointed to a provision of the mileage program’s terms that gives Northwest the right to cancel members’ accounts for abuse.
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