Airlines seek to cap compensation claims after US terror attacks

United Airlines and American Airlines are asking Congress to limit compensation lawsuits after the US terrorist attacks.

It's thought the airlines will be deluged with negligence and wrongful death suits for victims on the ground and in the air.

The airlines are asking the Senate and house commerce committees to limit their financial liability.

Potential payments could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, according to reports.

The idea behind the proposal is that the planes were being used as a weapon," said one Democratic Senate aide who saw and discussed the proposal.

"They feel this was not something that could be prevented and that they should be protected from liability."

John Hotard, a spokesman for American Airlines, would not say if his airline was seeking protection.

The International Air Transport Association said airlines had lost £6.8bn in extra expenses and lost sales during the grounding of commercial air traffic in the US.

One regional carrier, Midway Airlines, went out of business on Thursday, saying a drop in reservations and an increase in refund requests after the attacks had made it too hard to recover from a bankruptcy reorganisation it began last month.