8,000 Passengers May Join Class-Action Suit

Passengers who were stranded on the runway at Detroit Metropolitan Airport during a January snowstorm can join forces against Northwest Airlines in a class-action lawsuit, a judge ruled. About 8,000 passengers who were trapped on planes Jan. 3 for up to eight hours, when Wayne County work crews pushed snow piles in front of gates, are eligible to join the suit, Wayne County Circuit Judge Daphne Means Curtis ruled. Three suits have been filed against the airline and Wayne County, but Curtis dropped the county from the suit, saying passengers were not a party to the county’s contract with Northwest. Northwest attorneys argued that there were so many different situations among the passengers that the suits didn’t warrant class-action status, saying that each passenger suffered different emotional injuries. The judge determined that 8,000 passengers would be eligible to join the class based on the number of apology letters and free flight coupons Northwest sent passengers after the storm. The incident sparked a congressional hearing and a federal inquiry.