Stranded Northwest passengers get class-action status By Joseph Altman Jr. / Associated Press - June 1999
DETROIT -- 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 Friday.The ruling allows about 8,000 passengers -- who in some cases were trapped on airplanes for more than eight hours Jan. 3 -- to join four lawsuits already filed.
Attorneys Larry Charfoos and Geoffrey Fieger, who will be chief counsel for the plaintiffs, said thousands of individual claims would have strained the legal system and caused an undue burden on passengers who live outside Michigan.
"What is the advantage of 8,000 lawsuits?" Charfoos asked Wayne County Circuit Judge Daphne Means Curtis. "Are we going to take the depositions of Northwest people 8,000 times?"
Northwest attorneys argued that there were so many different situations among the passengers that the lawsuits didn't warrant class-action status. They said each passenger suffered different emotional injuries that must be individually weighed.
But Curtis ruled that each passenger's situation was similar enough to warrant a class-action suit.
"I don't think it matters that on some flights toilets may have overflowed or some stock of food and beverage were low on different flights," she said. Even though "there may be differences in terms of injuries or allegations of some class members in this case, there are common questions that predominate."
More than a dozen planes were left stranded on runways during the storm that dumped nearly 2 feet of snow because Wayne County plows couldn't clear the airfield.
The plaintiffs also wanted to sue the county, but Curtis ruled Friday that it be dropped as a defendant because passengers were not a party to the county's contract with Northwest.
Northwest spokesman Jon Austin said by phone from Minneapolis that the class-action ruling was expected.
"This is a procedural type of motion," he said. "Certainly, it doesn't go to the merits of the case. It doesn't change our expectations at all."
The court determined as many as 8,000 passengers will be eligible to join the class based on the number of apology letters and free flight coupons that Northwest sent out after the storm.
Todd Nemecek, who said he was trapped on the tarmac for 9-1/2 hours while trying to return to his home in Kansas City, called the ruling "great news."
"In the class action, we don't really expect to ever see anything, but at least the airlines know they can't do whatever they please," said Nemecek. "They lost me as a paying customer."
A U.S. Department of Transportation report released earlier this month found that Northwest did not violate any federal regulations but that conditions were "severe enough to have jeopardized passengers' well-being."
The airline reviewed its operations after the incident and said it made changes to emergency procedures.
One industry analyst said she does not think the suit will significantly impact the company or its stock value.
"I think those people have legitimate complaints, but that's the airline industry," said Helane Becker of New York's Buckingham Research Group. "One day out of every four is affected by weather. They (Northwest) just did a spectacular job of screwing things up."
Friday's ruling came one day after the Air Transport Association announced it adopted a voluntary passengers' Bill of Rights. It includes promises to inform customers of the lowest fare, provide prompt ticket refunds and notify passengers of known delays and cancellations.
It is often called the "Northwest bill," Ms. Becker said.
Lawmakers said they would reapply pressure for national passenger rights legislation if the industry fails to follow through on its promises to improve customer service.
Attorneys will now begin notifying potential plaintiffs through mailings and advertisements, said Fieger, known for defending Dr. Jack Kevorkian and most recently winning a $25 million verdict against "The Jenny Jones Show" in a wrongful death case.