El Al to Pay $15.8 Million to Settle Class Action Suit

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. last week agreed to pay $15.8 million to scores of air freight shippers to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over its alleged involvement in a global price-fixing scheme.

The carrier has agreed to cooperate in the ongoing case against the remaining defendants, said Hausfeld, a law firm serving as plaintiffs' co-lead counsel. El Al said the settlement should not be construed as an admission of guilty, according to Port2Port, an Israeli trade Web site.

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 Jerusalem-based company is the sixteenth carrier to agree to a settlement, bringing the total recovery to nearly $480 million.

The U.S. has so far fined 20 airlines more than $1.8 billion for their participation in the cargo cartel. The European Union fined BA and nine other carriers $1.2 billion in November for fixing cargo fuel and security surcharges.

-- Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @Szakonyi_JOC