South American Airline Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing

Several airlines have paid big fines for fixing surcharges for air cargo

LATAM Airlines Group S.A., the parent company of LAN Cargo S.A., has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix fuel surcharges imposed on international air cargo shipments to and from Canada and was fined $975,000, the Competition Bureau announced.

LATAM was the ninth airline to plead guilty in the air cargo case. Including LATAM’s fine, the Competition Bureau has collected over $25 million in fines following guilty pleas from Cathay Pacific, British Airways, KLM, Air France, Korean Airlines, Cargolux, Martinair and Qantas.

Several airlines have also settled class actions, for a total to date of over $16 million. Settling airlines include LATAM, Luftansa, Japan Airlines, SAS, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and Air France.

See our table of Air Cargo Conspiracy Fines and Class Action Settlements.