US fines JAL $117m for price fixing
A Report in The Age says that Japan Airlines has been fined $US110 million ($A117 million) after becoming the fourth carrier to admit it was part of a global cartel that fixed air cargo prices.
The airline has pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy with other carriers to fix rates for international shipments of cargo to and from the US and elsewhere between April 2000 and February 2006.
The US Department of Justice last year fined British Airways and Korean Air $US300 million each after they admitted to participating in the conspiracy.
Qantas was hit with a $US61 million fine in November after it admitted it was part of the cartel.
Six current and former Qantas employees could face prosecution as a result.
More than 30 airlines are alleged to have been involved. The cartel was exposed by German airline Lufthansa, which won conditional immunity from fines for admitting its role and co-operating with authorities.
JAL’s admission of guilt strengthens a separate Australian class action by hundreds of businesses against seven airlines they believe overcharged them in freight costs.
Of the seven, Qantas, British Airways, Lufthansa and JAL have admitted taking part.
Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific have made no comment on any involvement in the cartel.
Kim Parker, principal of law firm Maurice Blackburn, said the airlines could be hit with a $200 million damages bill for collusion in the Australian air-cargo market.
“It gives us renewed confidence in that over half, if you count Lufthansa, will find it extremely difficult when it comes to filing their defences in the Australian case to provide blanket denials,” she said.
“We expect that we will see admissions in some form from those airlines.”
Legal defences are expected to be filed by the middle of the year, at which point documents will be exchanged between the defence and the prosecution.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is also investigating Qantas’ air freight operations to determine whether it has engaged in anti-competitive behaviour in Australia.
A Report by The Mole from the Age
John Alwyn-Jones
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