Delta Air Lines Settlement: The $78.75 Million Fuel Dump Deal Got a Hearing Entry on October 2 and a Transcript on October 6 — but as of October 7, 2026, No Signed Final Order Shows on the Public Docket. Lawyers Say Nearly 13,000 Claims Were Approved; Nobody Else Can Join.

The short answer for anyone who filed a claim: the deal is approved in principle, the paperwork that starts the payment clock is not publicly visible, and there is no payment date. Judge Kronstadt “tentatively approved” the $78.7 million settlement at the final approval hearing on September 28, 2026, City News Service reported that day, and “is expected to issue his final order at a later date.”

What has happened on the record since then, according to the CourtListener mirror of the federal docket we read on October 7: transcript order forms were filed from September 29 through October 1 (entries 742 to 745); on October 2 the court entered entry 746, which the index labels “Motion Hearing AND Settlement”; and on October 6 the hearing transcript itself was filed as entry 747, together with a notice of filing. None of those entries is labeled as a final approval order or a judgment, and the text of entry 746 is not available on the mirror — so we cannot tell whether it records anything beyond the hearing itself. The mirror can lag behind the court’s own system; the absence of an order there means only that none was publicly visible to us.

Why that matters: the class’s money does not move on a tentative ruling. The settlement pays out only after a written final judgment is entered and can no longer be appealed. In a federal civil case a notice of appeal generally must be filed “within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from,” so that window cannot begin until the order appears. Our October 1 report walks through the settlement agreement’s funding and payment steps after that point.

Only people who filed a claim by February 6, 2026 are paid. The class is everyone who, on January 14, 2020, “owned, resided in, or rented one of the properties included on the list of affected residences prepared by John A. Kilpatrick” — around 38,000 properties and an estimated 160,000 individuals, according to the parties’ joint motion for preliminary approval.

The net fund was projected at $50,590,000. Of that, 67% ($33,895,300) goes to owners and is split per property, and 33% ($16,694,700) goes to residents and is split per person; an owner who also lived in the home can collect from both pots. The motion’s worked examples:

• Everyone claims: $888.82 per property and $104.34 per resident — $1,326.60 for a family of four living in a home it owns.
• Half claim: $1,777.64 per property and $208.68 per resident — $2,612.36 for that family of four.

Participation was far below either scenario. The X-Law Group, class counsel, said in a statement quoted by WSB-TV: “Nearly 13,000 individuals submitted claims that were approved, which is an extraordinary level of participation.” The joint motion estimates a class of around 38,000 properties and 160,000 individuals, so approved claims are a small share of the class. Fewer claimants means larger shares, but the split between owner claims and resident claims has not been published, so no one can calculate an exact payment from public records. After the hearing, class counsel Filippo Marchino told City News Service the class would receive “about $51.2 million” if all fees and costs are approved — slightly above the $50,590,000 projection, consistent with the motion’s note that any lower award of fees, costs or administration expenses “would increase” the class’s share.

• If you filed and were approved: nothing is required. Keep your mailing address and email current with the administrator, because the payment will be sent to what is on file.
• If you did not file: the claim, opt-out and objection deadlines all passed on February 6, 2026. Class members who did not opt out are bound by the settlement whether or not they claimed.
• If you want to follow the case: the signal to watch for is a written order granting final approval and a judgment on the docket of Case No. 2:20-cv-00786. Until then, any “payment date” you see online is a guess.
• If a payment goes uncashed: the joint motion says leftover money from uncashed payments goes to class members who cashed theirs or to a cy pres fund — not back to Delta.

The administrator is Verita Global. Its contact points, as listed on the settlement’s claim pages: DL89Settlement.com, 1-833-419-4070, and Delta Air Lines Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 301132, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1132. The official site returned an automated bot check to our request on October 7, so we could not re-read its current banner.

A WSB-TV story headlined “Delta Air Lines settles lawsuit after plane dumps jet fuel midflight over major city,” published September 30, 2026 and syndicated on Yahoo News, is about this same Los Angeles case — not a new settlement and not a new chance to claim. Two details in it differ from the court filings: it says “more than 38,000 businesses” were affected, while the joint motion counts around 38,000 properties — the class covers 1-to-4-unit residences, not businesses — and it describes the deal as “not yet fully approved,” which is still accurate as far as the public docket shows.

Because the story is spreading far outside Southern California, expect look-alike “claim your Delta money” pages. Legitimate settlement payments do not require a fee, a bank login or a new claim form; this claims period ended February 6, 2026. Check anything you receive against the administrator’s phone number and P.O. box above rather than links in the message.

Delta Flight DL89, bound for Shanghai, returned to LAX shortly after takeoff on January 14, 2020 and jettisoned fuel over neighborhoods and schools on the way back. City News Service reported the plane lost thrust and released about 15,000 pounds of fuel; Delta, in the joint motion, said the aircraft exceeded its maximum landing weight “by around 160,000 pounds” and that the crew “did exactly what federal regulations and their FAA-approved training required them to do.” Delta denies all claims, and according to the wire report says a Federal Aviation Administration investigation cleared the pilots. The plaintiffs alleged the fuel was dumped needlessly at low altitude over densely populated areas.

The settlement was filed for preliminary approval on August 25, 2025. Class counsel asked for fees of up to $24 million (30.5% of the fund), up to $2 million in costs and service awards of $15,000 each for the four named plaintiffs, up to $60,000 in total; administration was capped at $2,100,000. The final approval hearing was moved twice — from May 18 to July 13 and then to September 28, 2026. The written order will show what the court actually awarded.