Courts Weigh if Airlines Owe WTC Owners

By Larry Neumeister

A judge plans to decide whether the owners of the World Trade Center can try to make several airlines and other aviation defendants pay billions of dollars in damages from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan says he will announce his decision at the end of a nonjury trial that starts Monday.

The trial will decide whether World Trade Center Properties and its affiliates can receive more than the $4.9 billion in insurance proceeds they have already gotten. If the judge rules the trade center owners are entitled to additional money, a liability trial might be scheduled. Hellerstein has already said the maximum the owners could recover from aviation defendants would be $3.5 billion. The owners say it has cost more than $8 billion to rebuild.