Snow Job: Angry Passengers Suing Northwest Airlines for Being Forced to Wait for Hours Aboard Planes

Descrição

Event Date(s): 01/11/1999 | Event Location(s): Chicago, Illinois; | Description: Graphic with header "A day in the air" and supers "Passengers, 1.5 million, and flights 30,000" seen. Aerial camera pans jetliners waiting on a runway. A Northwest customer complains to another person about the airline. A shuttle bus drives towards airport in snowstorm, a delivery truck is lifted out of a snowdrift, and an aerial camera zooms out on a de-icer spraying a plane. Close up of a phone as a recorded message is heard in vo: "due to extreme weather conditions we are unable to answer your call at this time". In Detroit, Michigan, overhead panning shot of air travelers on line inside Detroit's Metro airport, a woman sleeping on the floor, people standing in line at a snack bar and Starbucks coffee shop, and a woman holding a child seen. Aerial shot of a jetliner, insert still of a hand on a cellular phone, Northwest logo, supers "Bill Goldstein, passenger 'There's no food. The toilets are overflowing... There are a lot of babies and small children on board, and, the people I really feel for are the kids and the parents because they're having a tough time dealing with the kids. They're starting to run out of formula and things, too" (comments heard in vo). Aerial of jetliners on a snow-covered runway seen. In interview, stranded passenger John Moorhead says that at one point people were yelling to be taken back to the terminal. Moorhead sits with a woman. Camera zooms in on jetliners on tarmac. Moorhead says that passengers wanted to get out but Northwest was determined to get the flight out. Avila reports on camera. Former stranded Northwest passenger Linda Truxell walks outdoors in a snowstorm. In interview, Truxell says that being stranded reminded her of a hostage situation. Wide shot of a jetliner on a runway in a snowstorm seen. Graphic with bar graph, super "on-time arrivals, and national average 77%, Northwest 70%" seen. In interview, the International Airline Passengers Association's Hal Salfen says that there is no excuse for keeping anyone on an airplane for (11 hours). Aerial camera zooming out on a Northwest jet, and aerial of bulldozers moving snow seen. In interview, Northwest Airlines spokesman Jon Austin says that the airline had great difficulty in moving its planes because of the snow. Graphic with supered letter from Northwest airlines, and Northwest logo seen. Camera pans air travelers sitting on a floor. Avila signs off in vo from Chicago, Illinois.