Passengers are suing two of America’s largest and oldest airlines over failing to seat them in a paid-for window seat, according to Top Class Actions. The class action lawsuit, filed on 19 August 2025, is still recruiting unhappy flyers in its two separate complaints against United and Delta.
Lawyers are accusing the carriers of “misleading customers” by advertising window seats that ticket buyers were charged for, but that were inexistent when passengers boarded the plane.
“When consumers purchase a window seat on United or Delta Airlines, they reasonably expect that the seat will have a window,” Carter Greenbaum, a GO Law attorney, wrote in a statement. “Instead, for years United and Delta have sold seats that they have described as ‘windows,’ only to leave customers disappointed when they find a blank wall.”
The blank wall scenario occurs when aircraft configurations on Boeing 737s and Airbus A321 are adapted, leaving rows next to walls that are not indicated as such on the seating chart shown during the online booking process. Customers can be charged from $24 (over €20) each to select seating preferences in United’s standard Economy class, and up to $36 (nearly €31) per person for the same option in “Basic Economy”.
With at least one seat per flight affected, one of the lawsuits claims that United alone “has likely sold over a million windowless ‘window’ seats.” Evidence is provided in the filing by a photograph of a plane interior that contradicts a screenshot from a seating chart indicating that seat 11A should have a window, which it does not.
Greenbaum said customers were “rightfully angry” that what should have been for many “a special experience to see the world from 30,000 feet, or to watch a descent into LaGuardia, LAX, SFO, or O’Hare,” has been denied them.
He goes on to list many reasons why passengers might choose to pay an additional fee to have the privilege of a window seat. “Windows can captivate or distract an antsy child. For many with a fear of flying or motion sickness, windows provide a greater level of comfort in an otherwise stressful environment. Others just want a burst of sunlight to brighten their day. Whatever the motivation,” he pointed out, “had plaintiffs and the class members known that the seats they were purchasing were windowless, they would not have selected them — much less have paid extra.”
@Delta you should tell people when their window seat has no window. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/lJslUdOW3f
— Fayego (@FayEgo1) January 16, 2025
Controversy has been building in the US and Europe over the way airlines raise ancillary revenue by charging for seat options, baggage, cabin upgrades, airport lounge access, and other services. While carriers point out that the fees effectively subsidise base fares, keeping them low, lawmakers have denounced some charging practices as “junk fees.”
