Delta Air Lines Inc. v. Bombardier Inc.

Background

Delta asked the court to redact four specific dollar references in its complaint. According to Delta’s application, the figures estimated the total value of goods and services credits that Bombardier had issued under the parties’ aircraft purchase agreement and allegedly refused to honor. Delta argued that the figures reflected carefully negotiated pricing terms and that disclosure could adversely affect the parties’ negotiating positions in future transactions.

The court had previously denied Delta’s motion to seal the complaint because Delta had not overcome the presumption that the public may access information in a judicial document. The earlier order nevertheless stated that the presumption was weaker for the specific dollar references than for the contract’s terms. Delta’s application also stated that neither party had publicly disclosed the existence or value of the credits.

Ruling

Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered Delta to file the proposed redacted complaint on the public docket by June 1, 2020, at the latest. This directive permitted Delta to redact the four specific dollar references. The order explained that the court gave relatively little weight to the public-access presumption as to the amount at issue because the figure was unlikely to affect the court’s determination of whether Bombardier breached the contract. Although Delta had not provided new evidence supporting its general claim of competitive harm, the court stated that this did not prevent the redactions because the presumption of access was relatively low based on the information then before it. The court also stated that its assessment could change if additional information were presented.