Delta Must Face Lawsuit Alleging Over 1 Million Flyers Paid For 'Window Seats' With No Window

Published Nov 5, 2026, 2:02 AM EST Luke has over a decade of experience as a travel writer and aviation analyst. As a passionate traveler based across the Middle East and Asia, Luke offers strong insights into the industry. Based in South East Asia. Delta Air Lines must face a proposed class action lawsuit over allegations that it charged passengers extra for window seats that have no window. The lawsuit alleges that Delta sells certain seats on its Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 aircraft as window seats without revealing that some are positioned next to a blank cabin wall. It is estimated that more than one million Delta passengers may have paid for these seats. A judge has now rejected the airline's attempt to have the case thrown out, following a similar ruling in July that allowed an almost identical lawsuit against United Airlines to proceed. Delta Argued It Never Promised A Window Credit: Wangkun Jia | Shutterstock On Wednesday, November 4, US District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York ruled that the passengers' breach of contract claims are not preempted by federal law, rejecting one of Delta's central arguments for dismissing the case. Delta, represented by law firm King & Spalding, had argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed on several grounds. According to Law360, Delta's defense centered on its Contract of Carriage, which it says makes no promise to provide passengers with a window. It also explicitly states that seat assignments "are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract." Delta added that any claims based on seat map labels, tickets or marketing materials fall outside the contract and are therefore preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA). On the other hand, the plaintiffs — represented by New York law firm Greenbaum Olbrantz — argued that Delta's use of the word "window" is a commitment to provide an actual window, particularly when it charges an additional fee for the seat. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Carter Greenbaum, said when the suit was first filed: "They sold customers window seats and ended up seating them next to a wall." Credit: Kirk Fisher | Shutterstock The case was originally filed on August 19, 2025, as Meyer v. Delta Air Lines, with Brooklyn resident Nicholas Meyer leading the lawsuit. According to the original complaint, Meyer paid extra for window seats on a trip from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, connecting through Delta's hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). However, when he boarded a Boeing 757-200 for the second sector of his journey, he discovered that seat 23F was next to a blank cabin wall rather than a window. As a result, he spent the roughly four-and-a-half-hour flight without the view he had paid for. The lawsuit states that some seats on Delta's 737s, 757s and A321s have no windows because of air conditioning ducts and other equipment behind the panels, but this was not made clear during booking. The plaintiffs say they would not have paid for these seats if Delta had made their lack of windows clear. They also argue that Delta could easily prevent the problem by updating its booking system. The complaint points out that the airline already identifies other seat limitations during the selection process, such as restricted recline or a lack of under-seat storage, but does not identify seats without windows. This is unlike rivals American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, which clearly inform customers during seat selection if a 'window seat' has no window. Southwest Airlines, which introduced assigned seating on January 27, 2026, has also added a warning to its seat selection page. United Airlines Faces Its Own Windowless Seat Lawsuit Credit: Wenjie Zheng I Shutterstock United must also face a similar lawsuit to Delta's after losing its own bid to have the case dismissed in July. United had claimed that the term "window" describes a seat's position next to the cabin wall, rather than promising passengers an actual view. It also argued that federal law prevented the plaintiffs from bringing their claims. US District Judge James Donato rejected both arguments, stating that United's ticketing terms "plausibly establish that United expressly agreed to provide a seat with a window." Both lawsuits are seeking millions of dollars in damages, along with changes to how the airlines identify and advertise seats that have no window.