CNN Money reports that another 14 9-11 cases, these against United Airlines and other parties, have been settled. Thirty five more cases, including 18 against American Airlines, remain.
-- Scott
(Photo: Passenger who was supposed to have been on AA Flight 11)
The flight attendants at American are also honoring the 9-11 victims today. Here's what Tommie Hutto-Blake, the union's president, had to say in a hotline to attendants:
Each of us has our own memories of September 11, 2001, which began as a beautiful fall morning. I was working Position #1 on an 0800 JFK – SFO departure. We were a NY crew of 13 on a newly refurbished 767-300. We, of course, never reached our original destination that day, and through the next five days we became a very bonded crew – watching the tragic events unfold far from home. We returned to New York on the fifth day on a special flight full of ‘need to go’ passengers – each carrying a photo of their loved one who was missing in New York.
Today, I ask that each of you take a few minutes to remember our crews who worked Flights 11 and 77 that morning. Those two crews followed their training procedures to a tee, thankfully never truly realizing the magnitude of their tragedy and how it changed the world. We honor their stories and their bravery in the line of duty.
The union will be holding a private memorial at the group's memorial gardens at its headquarters.
- Trebor
The Allied Pilots Association conducted a heartfelt, somber memorial this morning to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, which included five American pilots.
Dressed in full uniform, pilots gathered around the flagpole in front of the union's Fort Worth headquarters and slowly lowered the American flag at precisely 7:46 a.m., the moment when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower of the World Trade Center six years ago. They then attached a new flag, which proclaimed "911 Remember," below the U.S. flag and raised them both to half-staff.
Lloyd Hill, a pilot and the union's new president, said in his remarks that the threat to commercial aviation remains serious, and chided the industry and federal regulators for failing to provide adequate protection.
"The risk is still real," he said. "And while many security improvements have been implemented, the airlines, through the Air Transport Association and the Transportation Security Administration, remain an impediment to the implementation of numerous common-sense security measures that would protect our crewmembers and the public."
The ceremony ended with a pilot playing "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes.
Later, Hill said that it's vital that pilots and other American employees keep the memory of the attacks and the victims alive in the public memory. The industry, he said, "would clearly prefer that the public forget about it."
- Trebor
There are lots of 9-11 memorials going on today across the globe. One that's particularly close to the tragedy is a flag-lowering ceremony that is being conducted by the Allied Pilots Association at their Fort Worth headquarters. The APA is the union that represents American Airlines pilots.
The ceremony is scheduled for 7:46 a.m. CST, the precise time that American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower of the World Trade Center, making the start of the attacks. Union leaders say the ceremony honors the memory of every life lost that day, including five AA pilots and 13 AA flight attendants.
- Trebor
With another 9-11 anniversary approaching, CBS News reports that few families are still suing the airlines. Most have settled their cases through the Victims Compensation Fund set up by the government. "Originally 95 families decided to sue," CBS said. "So far half have settled, leaving only 41 still going to court."
American Airlines, which lost two of the four planes that were hijacked and crashed, declined to be interviewed by CBS. But in a statement, the airline told the network "we empathize with all families who lost loved ones. Ninety eight percent of the cases have been settled privately or through the VCF. American is committed to continue working with the families toward settlement."
-- Scott
A story in the Boston Herald today says that American Airlines officials are ready to go to trial in lawsuits over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks if mediation talks fail or they can't reach settlements with victims' familes.
The airline is being sued along with United Airlines, Boeing, Massport, the FAA, security screening companies and several others. The group faces 38 suits stemming from the attacks, according to the report.
- Trebor
American Airlines has joined up with six other U.S. carriers to sue the FBI and CIA in federal district court in the Southern District of New York, the news wires are reporting.
The airlines want a federal judge to allow them the chance to interview the government's investigators over questions that have arisen from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The airlines are defending themselves against lawsuits filed by victims of the terror attacks in New York. Boeing is also part of the group suing the CIA and FBI.
Here's what Bloomberg said in its wire story that came out about an hour ago:
"Such evidence would establish or tend to establish that the terrorists would have succeeded in executing the Sept. 11 attacks, irrespective of any alleged action or inaction" by the airlines, the airlines said in two complaints filed today in Manhattan federal court.
-David
Federal judge rules six of 41 unresolved cases will go to trial Sept. 4. The judge also rules that the trial will address only damages, and a second one will have to deal with liability. According to this Reuters report, the judge hopes this will encourage settlements.
-- Scott
