….Passengers have launched class action cases in California and New York.

By Zach Vasile

United and Delta are facing lawsuits from customers who say they paid premium rates for window seats on their flights and ended up facing a blank cabin wall.

In two separate class action complaints, the plaintiffs allege the carriers knowingly and intentionally charge extra for window seats that do not actually have windows due to the configuration of the cabin interior.

The lawsuit against United was filed in the Northern District of California, while the lawsuit against Delta was filed in the Eastern District of New York.

The plaintiffs are looking to join their cases to thousands and potentially millions of other customers who paid for window seats and did not get them. They are asking for “all appropriate monetary relief,” including punitive damages against the airlines.

The lawsuits note that both carriers fly aircraft with one or more seats that would ordinarily have a window but do not due to the positioning of air conditioning ducts, electrical conduits, or other systems. This feature is present on Boeing 737s and Airbus A321s operated by both airlines, as well as 757s operated by Delta.

Still, the carriers continue to represent every wall-adjacent seat on those aircraft as a window seat, which misleads customers about their flight experience, the plaintiffs argue.

Both complaints include photos of windowless seats and references to social media posts in which customers complained directly to the airlines.

In one instance, United’s X account allegedly replied, “[S]orry. We never guaranteed you will get a window.” On a different occasion, the United account allegedly wrote that “[w]hile some seats may be labeled as ‘window’ based on the aircraft layout, there are instances where the actual window placement doesn’t fully align.”

The lawsuit against Delta contained pictures of posts on X and Reddit in which passengers expressed frustration with their seats.

“One leg of my trip had a strange issue,” one customer wrote. “There was no window next to my ‘window seat.’ Really just a flat section of cabin wall, no glass window. I contacted customer service for a refund for the extra fee for this seat. I was rejected.”

“Delta! Can you please do a better job of noting when window seats don’t actually have a window?” another posted. “Some of us are nervous flyers and the window helps ease the anxiety. There is nothing worse than picking a window seat and arriving to no window. This has happened to me on like four of my last ten flights. Why is it even a thing?”

Neither United nor Delta has formally responded to the lawsuits.

The two named plaintiffs in the lawsuit against United claim they got windowless window seats on flights departing from airports in California.

One was refunded money for her purchase, while the other was refunded in miles, which their attorneys maintain was not enough.

The single named plaintiff in the Delta lawsuit booked a trip from New York to California, with a stop in Atlanta, and got a windowless window seat on his second flight.

Both complaints noted that American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Ireland’s Ryanair alert customers when a wall-adjacent seat does not have a window view.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs allege that United and Delta’s actions are deceptive and amount to a breach of contract, which entitles their clients and others to compensation.