A federal judge has ruled on the side of Delta in a class action brought against the airline by a member of Delta SkyMiles who says the airline should award miles according to the flight route actually flown. In Delta’s motion to dismiss, the airline pointed out the rules of the SkyMiles program, which are, “On nonstop and direct flights, mileage credited will be calculated based upon the distance from origin to final destination, regardless of the number of stops.”

The judge wrote, “The plaintiff’s reading would result in additional miles awarded for many unplanned contingencies. For example, when a plane reaches its destination, it must often circle in a holding pattern. According to the plaintiff, SkyMiles members should receive a windfall of award miles for this maneuver. The same would be true if the plane had to divert around inclement weather or fly around the airport to approach a particular runway … By contrast, the defendant’s reading is reasonable. It results in the award of a fixed, predictable number of miles for any given trip.”