Cyclic Hotline
5th Apr 2001, 04:27
TWA Passengers Sue Over Cancelled Israel Flights
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of frustrated Trans World Airlines customers filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday against the bankrupt airline for canceling its daily New York-to-Tel Aviv flight at the height of travel season for the annual Jewish observance of Passover.
"TWA's cancellation of the route is unconscionable,'' lead plaintiff Yehuda Kolko said in a statement. The suit, filed in Brooklyn federal court, seeks unspecified compensatory damages.
But a spokeswoman for the airline said the airline had done ''a pretty good job'' of accommodating passengers displaced by the flight's cancellation, which the airline said was due to a labor dispute in Israel and had nothing to do with American Airlines' impending takeover of TWA.
Kolko, a 55-year old yeshiva teacher from Brooklyn, had booked a flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International to Tel Aviv on March 29, the day the flight was permanently canceled by TWA.
TWA executives have said they feared the Boeing 767s used for the daily flight would be seized by TWA personnel in Tel Aviv as part of the labor dispute.
Kolko's attorney, Edward Klein, said hundreds of other plaintiffs had joined the suit.
He said the suit is seeking unspecified compensatory damages. He said Kolko, who had a free frequent flier ticket for the TWA flight, was forced to spend $1,500 for a flight on another airline.
TWA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and is in the process of selling most of its assets to American Airlines.
TWA spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said she did not think the suit had much merit. "Like every airline facing bankruptcy, we've made every effort to accommodate the passengers.''
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of frustrated Trans World Airlines customers filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday against the bankrupt airline for canceling its daily New York-to-Tel Aviv flight at the height of travel season for the annual Jewish observance of Passover.
"TWA's cancellation of the route is unconscionable,'' lead plaintiff Yehuda Kolko said in a statement. The suit, filed in Brooklyn federal court, seeks unspecified compensatory damages.
But a spokeswoman for the airline said the airline had done ''a pretty good job'' of accommodating passengers displaced by the flight's cancellation, which the airline said was due to a labor dispute in Israel and had nothing to do with American Airlines' impending takeover of TWA.
Kolko, a 55-year old yeshiva teacher from Brooklyn, had booked a flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International to Tel Aviv on March 29, the day the flight was permanently canceled by TWA.
TWA executives have said they feared the Boeing 767s used for the daily flight would be seized by TWA personnel in Tel Aviv as part of the labor dispute.
Kolko's attorney, Edward Klein, said hundreds of other plaintiffs had joined the suit.
He said the suit is seeking unspecified compensatory damages. He said Kolko, who had a free frequent flier ticket for the TWA flight, was forced to spend $1,500 for a flight on another airline.
TWA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and is in the process of selling most of its assets to American Airlines.
TWA spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said she did not think the suit had much merit. "Like every airline facing bankruptcy, we've made every effort to accommodate the passengers.''