A woman has filed a $5 million class action suit against United Airlines, alleging the airline routinely and fraudulently misrepresents the capabilities of its inflight entertainment systems.

Cary M. David reportedly filed suit after paying for inflight Wi-Fi on a flight to Puerto Rico. The only problem: the system only works within the continental United States. David claims she got about 10 minutes of Wi-Fi before she got shut out. Via topclassactions.com:

David alleges that in order for passengers to use DirecTV services during a United flight, they must pay $4.99 for flights that last less than two hours and $7.99 for flights that last longer than that period of time. The United Airline class action lawsuit further claims the Wi-Fi fees range from $4.95 to $49, depending on a consumer’s device and how they choose to use the internet during the flight. “United sells these services to passengers on the flights and fails to disclose that the services will not work as advertised when the aircraft is outside the continental United States or is over water,” the United class action lawsuit alleges. “It is not until they have crossed U.S. borders or are over water, with no service, that customers learn that their DirecTV and/or Wi-Fi service will not work for all or part of the flight.”

Although United’s website apparently discloses this fact, David claims there was no indication on board (which United disputes in its motion to dismiss):



“Those[Wi-Fi service] offers, which control over Plaintiff’s inconsistent allegations, demonstrate that Plaintiff’s claims are fatally deficient and must be dismissed. Specifically, United tells its on-board passengers before they confirm their purchase that ‘Live DIRECTV programming is not available while the aircraft is outside of the continental United States’ and that ‘Wi-Fi service is available over the continental U.S.’ Plaintiff cannot avoid dismissal of her claims by failing to attach or quote in full these dispositive documents.”

The court will likely rule on United’s motion this month, which could lead to a real settlement offer if unsuccessful. United is also trying to move the case out of state court on the grounds that David’s claims fall under the Airline Deregulation Act. But if the court agrees she has a viable fraud claim, the case will likely remain where it is.

In the meantime, David is reportedly trying to track down other international passengers to join the class as plaintiffs which shouldn’t be hard seeing as United isn’t exactly beloved by its customers.

[image via AP]

