Alaska Airlines Settles Cabin Air Quality Lawsuit

S E A T T L E, Jan. 25 -- Alaska Airlines is paying $725,000 to settle a lawsuit by 26 flight attendants who said they had been sickened by toxic leaks that fouled the air in passenger jets.

Under a confidential agreement reached late last year, the attendants never renounced their claims but signed a statement saying the airline never intended to harm them and had taken measures to improve workplace safety, The Seattle Times reported today.

In the lawsuit, the attendants said airline officials failed to warn them that chemicals in fluids used on MD-80-series jets could cause neurological impairment. Passengers made isolated complaints but no widespread problems involving passengers were reported.

The attendants are still pursuing claims against the MD-80 manufacturer, McDonnell-Douglas, now part of the Boeing Co., and AlliedSignal, which made a key component and is now part of Honeywell International Inc. of Morris Township, N.J. Both companies are fighting the claims.

Lawyers for the West Coast regional carrier and the attendants, some of whom have left the company, would not discuss the agreement. Some details were provided by a source familiar with the case who asked not to be identified, the Times reported.

A statement by the attendants and a letter by Ed White, the airline's vice president of customer service, describing part of the agreement were released by the company Wednesday.

"We are delighted that the lawsuit against the company has been resolved," White wrote to employees Nov. 27.

Airborne Sickness

The Times reported that the deal includes the following terms:

$4,068 for each attendant for a total of $105,768.

$6,000 to be divided among the attendants to cover medical expenses.

About $292,000 for legal fees and expenses to be divided among lawyers and the flight attendants' union

The rest, more than $320,000, for financing litigation against the other defendants.

A promise by Alaska Airlines not to try to recover any worker's compensation paid to flight attendants.