Delta Airlines 2003 Annual Report Download - page 34

Table of Contents
In January 2003, the District Court denied the plaintiffs' motion for class action certification and in April 2003 granted our motion for summary judgment
on all claims. Plaintiffs have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Power Travel International, Inc., et al. v. American Airlines, et al. In August 2002, a travel agency filed a purported class action lawsuit in New York state
court against us, American, Continental, Northwest, United and JetBlue, on behalf of an alleged nationwide class of U.S. travel agents. JetBlue has been
dismissed from the case, and the remaining defendants removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit
alleges that the defendants breached their contracts with and their duties of good faith and fair dealing to U.S. travel agencies when these airlines discontinued
the payment of published base commissions to U.S. travel agencies at various times beginning in March 2002. The plaintiffs' amended complaint seeks
unspecified damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief. Similar litigation involving contract claims alleged under the agency agreements applicable
to Canadian travel agents is pending against us and other airlines in Canada.
Multidistrict Pilot Retirement Plan Litigation. During the June 2001 quarter, the Delta Pilots Retirement Plan ("Retirement Plan") and related non-qualified
pilot retirement plans sponsored and funded by us were named as defendants in five purported class action lawsuits filed in federal district courts in
California, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Mexico and New York. The complaints (1) seek to assert claims on behalf of a class consisting of certain groups of
retired and active Delta pilots; (2) allege that the calculation of the retirement benefits of the plaintiffs and the class violated the Retirement Plan and the
Internal Revenue Code; and (3) seek unspecified damages. In October 2001, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted our motion to transfer these
cases to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Plaintiffs have filed a motion for class action
certification.
Litigation Re September 11 Terrorist Attacks. We are a defendant in numerous lawsuits arising out of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It
appears that the plaintiffs in these actions are alleging that we and many other air carriers are jointly liable for damages resulting from the terrorist attacks
based on a theory of shared responsibility for passenger security screening at Logan, Dulles and Newark. These lawsuits, which are in preliminary stages,
generally seek unspecified damages, including punitive damages. Although federal law limits the financial liability of any air carrier for compensatory and
punitive damages arising out of the September 11 terrorist attacks to no more than the limits of liability insurance coverage maintained by the air carrier, it is
possible that we may be required to pay damages in the event of our insurers' insolvency or otherwise.
In each of the foregoing cases, we believe the plaintiffs' claims are without merit, and we are vigorously defending the lawsuits. An adverse decision in any
of these cases could result in substantial damages against us. Although the ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, management
believes that the resolution of these actions will not have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.
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