Three senators have urged US authorities to investigate "potential anti-competitive implications" of comments made by Lufthansa boss, Carsten Spohr.
The trio - Republican Mike Lee (Utah) and Democrats Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) - have written a letter to the Department of Transportation, following a discussion that took place during the IATA annual general meeting in Miami in June 2015.
They say Lufthansa Group CEO Spohr told a room of "100 competing airlines" that its introduction of the controversial Euro 16 surcharge on all bookings for the carrier made through global distribution systems was, apparently in Spohr's words, "a first step and I believe others will follow".
The Distribution Cost Charge, as it came to be known, went live in September 2015.
The letter continues:
"Lufthansa’s conduct, encouraging competitors collectively representing the vast majority of the market to follow Lufthansa’s lead in raising prices, raises the question of whether they have run afoul of the Sherman Act."
The three senators have urged the DoT and the Department of Justice to investigate the issue and take action against Lufthansa if the authorities conclude that there was indeed a violation of regulations.
The letter claims that 96 of 118 airlines in the audience at the event, following Spohr's discussion of the surcharge, indicated they "might make a similar move".
However, Lufthansa strongly refutes the basis of the letter, saying that it "respectfully disagrees that any aspect that its planning, announcement or implementation of the Distribution Cost Charge (DCC) violated any US antitrust laws".
In a strongly-worded statement sent to Tnooz, an official for the airline says the letter is "focused on the remarks made by a panel and known industry moderator with CNN".
"Several CEOs, including the Lufthansa CEO, were part of the panel and the topic of the DCC was discussed in a general manner and directed by the moderator.
"Humorous remarks were made by the moderator and general comments were made by the panelists and a known banter was exchanged among them."
The IATA meetings were videotaped, Lufthansa says, "so there is no argument as to what was said and we believe the video and comments are benign and clearly transparent".
"For accuracy, the DCC was announced by Lufthansa publicly via press release one week prior to the IATA meeting. It was not announced at the IATA meeting as indicated in the congressional review.
"The US Department of Transportation has previously reviewed the events of the 2015 IATA meeting and Lufthansa provided all requested information in answering questions related to this topic.
"DoT concluded that no violation of US antitrust laws had occurred. Lufthansa has been and remains readily available to cooperate with the U.S. authorities in any further review and we are fully committed to compliance.
"We are confident that the discussion among the panelists and the moderator will be viewed as no violation of US laws in any respect."
For its part, IATA has criticised the three senators and their action this week.
An official says:
"The airline industry is highly competitive. Globally, the average return fare (before surcharges and tax) of $366 in 2016 is forecast to be 62% lower than 21 years earlier, after adjusting for inflation.
"If the senators really wish to help air travelers, they could work to return more than $13 billion in diverted air passenger security fees, to help address the excessively long security lines being experienced at airports across the United States."
This is not the first time that the meeting in Miami has come to light.
At a CAPA event held in Helsinki last October, Amadeus talked about the informal poll and argued that regulators could scrutinise the discussion as, "theoretically", some may consider the act "collusion" by the airlines with one another.
In March this year, during a session to discuss Lufthansa's annual report, Spohr claimed other carriers would follow its strategy.
Before the discussion in Miami became a matter of controversy, Lufthansa's decision to impose the surcharge on GDS bookings was already being described as "manifestly illegal" by a group of online travel agencies in Europe, claiming it was a direct attack on the OTA model and "breaches the non-discrimination rules that apply to a parent carrier under the CRS Code of Conduct and also constitutes an infringement of EU competition law".
Lufthansa and Sabre are also currently fighting it out in the courts over the terms of their existing distribution contract. Tnooz recently communicated with lawyers on both sides, one of whom said: "All’s quiet for the moment."
Here is a copy of the senator letter: