Passengers have filed class-action window seat lawsuits against Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, alleging the carriers charge premium fees for seats labeled “window” that actually sit next to blank cabin walls with no view outside. Both suits were filed on August 19, 2025, by the law firm Greenbaum Olbrantz, and both are still pending at the motion-to-dismiss stage.1Courthouse News Service. Passengers Sue Delta, United Over Windowless Window Seats2The Hill. Delta, United Windowless Seat Lawsuits
What Passengers Are Claiming
The complaints say Delta and United mark every seat along the fuselage wall as a “window” seat on their booking sites and apps, including rows where the wall is solid. Passengers paid to be next to a window and got a panel instead.
The fees are not small. Delta charges more than $70 above the basic economy fare for a window seat. United’s seat-selection fees run upward of $50 on domestic flights and above $100 on international routes.3The New York Times. Delta, United Airlines Window Seat Lawsuits The United complaint estimates the airline has sold more than a million windowless “window” seats during the period at issue.4ClassAction.org. Brenman et al. v. United Airlines, Inc., Complaint
One of the named plaintiffs in the United case, Aviva Copaken of Los Angeles, bought three flights out of LAX in May 2025 and paid between $45.99 and $169.99 per flight to pick a window seat. Copaken says she prefers windows because she experiences claustrophobia. All three seats turned out to be against a wall. United refunded the fees for two of the flights but not the third, and only after learning she might sue. The complaint calls that a “bad faith attempt to moot her claims.”5Good Morning America. Passengers Filing Suits Over Windowless Window Seats on Delta, United4ClassAction.org. Brenman et al. v. United Airlines, Inc., Complaint
The Delta case rests on a single breach of contract claim. The United complaint takes a broader approach, adding claims for breach of implied contract and for unfair competition under California’s Business and Professions Code. Both suits seek compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of the premium fees, and attorneys’ fees.6Courthouse News Service. Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., Class Action Complaint4ClassAction.org. Brenman et al. v. United Airlines, Inc., Complaint
Why Some Window Seats Have No Window
Air conditioning ducts, electrical conduits, and other internal components sometimes occupy the space where a window would otherwise be. The quirk shows up on Boeing 737s, Boeing 757s, and Airbus A321s.7ABC News. Passengers Filing Suits Over Windowless Window Seats on Delta, United It is not one stray seat per plane, either. On the Boeing 737-800, Delta has windowless rows at positions 13, 15, and 16, and United’s version of that aircraft can lack windows at rows 11 and 12.8InsideHook. Window Seat Doesn’t Have a Window
How Delta and United Compare to Other Airlines
Windowless window seats also exist on aircraft flown by Lufthansa, Qantas, and AeroMexico. But the plaintiffs zero in on Delta and United because of how their U.S. competitors handle the same problem. Both complaints point out that American Airlines and Alaska Airlines flag these seats during booking so passengers know before they pay.9NBC Bay Area. Lawsuit Windowless Window Seat Fees Alaska has publicly explained that the missing windows on its 737 fleet come from air conditioning riser ducts running from the belly to the ceiling, and it lists the specific rows.10Alaska Airlines. Mystery Solved: Aircraft Windowless Window Seat Delta and United, according to the complaints, offer no comparable warning.
How the Airlines Are Defending
Both carriers argue that “window seat” describes where a seat sits inside the cabin, not what a passenger can see from it.
United filed its motion to dismiss on November 10, 2025. Its lawyers wrote that “the use of the word ‘window’ in reference to a particular seat cannot reasonably be interpreted as a promise that the seat will have an exterior window view.”11New York Post. Airlines Claim That Passengers Who Pay Extra for Window Seats Are Not Entitled to a View United says the term is “industry standard shorthand” for a seat’s position on the location of passenger accommodation chart, and that its conditions of carriage make no promise about the view.12Aerospace Global News. United Airlines Dismiss Window Seat Lawsuit
United also raised a federal preemption defense. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 bars states from enforcing laws “related to a price, route, or service of an air carrier,” and airlines have used that provision to knock out consumer claims in other contexts. Under the Supreme Court’s decision in American Airlines, Inc. v. Wolens, though, breach of contract claims that enforce an airline’s own voluntary commitments are generally not preempted. Whether the window seat fees fit inside that exception is a question neither court has answered.
Delta filed its own motion to dismiss on January 28, 2026, attaching its contract of carriage rules. The plaintiffs opposed the motion and Delta replied, but the specifics of Delta’s arguments have not been publicly reported in detail.13CourtListener. Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.14PACER Monitor. Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Who Would Be Covered by the Class
Both suits are proposed class actions. Each proposed class includes anyone in the United States who bought airfare from the airline in question, paid extra to select a window seat, and received a seat with no window. The definition of “extra” is broad: cash fees, rewards program credits, credit card benefits, and fare-class upgrades made to secure a specific window seat all count.6Courthouse News Service. Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., Class Action Complaint15ClassAction.org. United, Delta Facing Lawsuits Over Allegedly Unfair Windowless Window Seat Fees Neither complaint sets a firm start date for the class period, though both say the practice has continued “for many years.” No class has been certified yet.
Where the Cases Stand
As of mid-2026, both suits are early. United’s motion to dismiss is pending in the Northern District of California. Delta’s motion is pending in the Eastern District of New York. Neither court has issued a substantive ruling. A proposed trial date of June 7, 2027, has been set in the United case.11New York Post. Airlines Claim That Passengers Who Pay Extra for Window Seats Are Not Entitled to a View12Aerospace Global News. United Airlines Dismiss Window Seat Lawsuit No settlement talks have been publicly reported.
Why No Agency Handles This
No federal rule requires airlines to accurately label seat types. The FAA regulates seat structure for crash safety, and the Department of Transportation polices honest advertising about fares and fees, but neither agency governs how airlines describe individual seats. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 removed federal authority over cabin conditions and service quality, and Congress has not passed the minimum seat standards proposed since.16Simple Flying. Why Doesn’t USDOT Regulate Airline Seating Passenger Comfort Passengers who feel misled about a seat label have no agency to complain to, which is a large part of why this fight is playing out in court.