Judge Lets Delta Windowless Window Seat Suit Proceed

U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday denied Delta Air Lines’ bid to dismiss a proposed breach-of-contract class action over seats sold as “window” seats that plaintiffs say have no window, Law360 and Simple Flying reported.

Reyes held that the flyers’ contract claims are not preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act, rejecting a central argument Delta raised in seeking to end the case at the pleadings stage, according to both outlets. The ruling lets the suit proceed; it does not decide whether Delta breached any contract or owes damages.

What the passengers allege

The case, filed Aug. 19, 2025, and styled Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, accuses the airline of charging premium fees for window seats on Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 aircraft that sit next to a blank cabin wall, Simple Flying reported. Plaintiffs estimate more than one million Delta passengers may have paid for such seats. The claims are allegations that have not been proven in court.

Brooklyn resident Nicholas Meyer, who originally led the suit, paid extra for a window seat on a LaGuardia-to-John Wayne itinerary connecting through Atlanta and found seat 23F on a Boeing 757-200 next to a blank wall for the roughly 4 1/2-hour second leg, according to the complaint as summarized by Simple Flying. Plaintiffs say ducts and other equipment behind side panels leave some exterior-row seats without usable windows, and that Delta does not flag those seats the way American Airlines and Alaska Airlines do during booking.

Delta’s defense

Delta, represented by King & Spalding, argued that its Contract of Carriage makes no promise to provide a window and states that seat assignments “are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract,” Simple Flying reported, citing Law360’s account of the filings. The carrier also contended that claims based on seat-map labels, tickets or marketing materials fall outside the contract and are preempted by federal law. Reyes rejected the preemption defense for the breach-of-contract claims, Law360 said.

Plaintiffs are represented by New York firm Greenbaum Olbrantz. Attorney Carter Greenbaum said when the suit was filed that Delta “sold customers window seats and ended up seating them next to a wall,” Simple Flying reported.

Parallel United case

A nearly identical proposed class action against United Airlines survived a motion to dismiss in July when U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco ruled that boarding-pass and booking terms “plausibly establish that United expressly agreed to provide a seat with a window,” Simple Flying reported. Both suits seek damages and changes to how the airlines label seats without windows. No class has been certified in either case, and neither airline has been found liable.

Sources: Law360, Simple Flying