Important Update: All payments to Class Members with valid claims have been issued. If you have questions about the payment you received or if you need a check to be reissued, please write to the Settlement Administrator at Turkish Airlines Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91455, Seattle, WA 98111.
What is this lawsuit about?
A Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Plaintiffs Svetlana Sholopa and Milica Milosevic (“Plaintiffs”) allege that Turk Hava Yollari A.O. (d/b/a Turkish Airlines) and Turkish Airlines, Inc. (“Turkish Airlines”) breached its General Conditions of Carriage (“GCC”) by failing to refund them for flights cancelled due to COVID-19 at all or within a reasonable amount of time. By entering the Settlement, Turkish Airlines does not concede the truth of any of the claims against it; Turkish Airlines maintains that it did not breach the GCC, that it did provide refunds within a reasonable amount of time particularly given COVID-19’s impact on Turkish Airlines’ operations and the airline industry generally, and it denies that it did anything wrong. The Court has not decided who is right. Instead, the parties agreed to a compromise.
Who is included in the Class?
A Settlement Class Member is any United States resident who purchased tickets for travel on a Turkish Airlines flight scheduled to operate to, from, or within the United States between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 (a) whose flights were cancelled by Turkish Airlines, (b) the customer did not cancel the flight or fail to show for the first leg of the flight prior to the cancellation of a later leg, (c) the customer did not request and receive a voucher or rebooking from Turkish Airlines, and (d) the customer did not request and receive a charge back from their credit card provider for the full amount of the flight cancelled by Turkish Airlines (the “Settlement Class”). Settlement Class Members consist of two categories of individuals: (1) Settlement Class Members who have received refunds from Turkish Airlines for Qualifying Flights; and (2) Settlement Class Members who have not, to date, received a refund for Qualifying Flights.
What does the lawsuit provide?
Under the Settlement, Settlement Class Members who have already received a refund from Turkish Airlines and who submitted a valid Claim Form had the option to elect either (1) the Cash Option: $10.00 USD per person, or (2) the Voucher Option: a Voucher for future travel on Turkish Airlines in the amount of $45.00 USD. The Cash and Voucher Options are subject to a cap of $1,000,000.00 USD. Receipt of total valid claims made by Refunded Claimants greater than $1,000,000.00 USD will reduce the cash and voucher payout for each eligible Refunded Claimant that submitted a valid claim on a pro rata basis until the full $1,000,000.00 USD has been paid.
For Settlement Class Members who did not receive a refund and submitted a valid Claim Form requesting a refund on the Claim Form, Turkish Airlines will (i) provide them with a full refund, and (ii) provide an additional Interest Payment of one percent (1%) of the unused ticket price, or in the case of partially used tickets, one percent (1%) of the price of the unused flight segment (i.e., a 101% refund). Refunds and Interest Payments available for Class Members that have not yet received a refund are not capped in any manner.