It now appears that a lawsuit has been filed by Kate Hanni of FlyersRights.org in the United States District Court in Houston for email hacking. Apparently they are seeking at least $11 million in actual and punitive damages.

In a statement from a Delta spokesman, Trebor Banstetter, he said that the idea that Delta Air Lines would hack into someone’s email is without any kind of merit at all. He went on to say that, since this is still a pending litigation, they are not allowed to comment any further.

The executive director and founder of the Coalition for Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, Kathleen Hanni, actually filed suit after her emails were apparently obtained by the defendants. According to reports, Hanni and her group have been a big thorn in the side of the airline industry for quite some time. They have been pushing Congress to enact a passenger bill of rights at a time when airlines are suffering from big revenue losses thanks to weak demand for travel.

Hanni, among other things, also supports a three hour time limit on how long airlines can strand passengers at airports. According to a pending legislation, the Senate would require that passengers be allowed to deplane after a three hour wait.

According to sources, the lawsuit alleges that the email hacking began in 2008 and has continued into this year while Hanni was consulting with a Metron Aviation employee who was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration to analyze airline delays. More information on this case will be released later on.