John Robert Blakey — a judge of the the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois in Chicago — dismissed a lawsuit filed back on Monday, November 17, 2014 by United Airlines Incorporated and Orbitz Worldwide LLC against an Internet web site for lower cost airfares because the court did not have jurisdiction over the case, with the reason being that Aktarer Zaman did not live or do business in Chicago.
Zaman — who is 22 years old and the founder of Skiplagged, which is the controversial Internet web site in question — called the dismissal of the lawsuit known as United Airlines, Inc. et al v. Zaman — a “victory,” according to this article written by Patrick Gillespie for CNNMoney.
United Airlines Incorporated and Orbitz Worldwide LLC filed the lawsuit to prevent Skiplagged — an Internet web site for lower cost airfares founded by Aktarer Zaman — from helping consumers buy what the companies call improper “hidden city” airplane tickets which undercut their sales. “In its simplest form, a passenger purchases a ticket from city A to city B to city C but does not travel beyond city B,” according to the companies’ complaint. “‘Hidden City’ ticketing is strictly prohibited by most commercial airlines because of logistical and public-safety concerns.”
Because he has not earned money as of yet from Skiplagged, Zaman has already raised $79,219.00 on a “crowdfunding” Internet web site — donated by at least 3,805 people to help pay for attorneys to defend him — where he posted this particular comment:
Skiplagged’s sole purpose has always been to help you become savvy travelers. We have been doing that by exposing pricing inefficiencies for air travel, among other things. Unfortunately, we have been doing too good of a job so United Airlines and a big travel partner teamed up with a lawsuit to get in the way. Everything Skiplagged has done and continues to do is legal, but the only way to effectively prove this is with lawyers. Please show your support for Skiplagged by donating towards this campaign to help fund our legal team.
— Aktarer Zaman
Founder of Skiplagged
Zaman had posted for assistance at Reddit.com as well; but it appears as though he will no longer need that assistance — at least for now, anyway…
