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$301 MILLION  CLASS ACTION  LAUNCHED AGAINST  NORTHWEST AIRLINES FOR
SECOND-HAND SMOKE ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

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PRESS RELEASE
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                   Contact For Media: Doug Barnett (416) 253-0888
                                      Barrister & Solicitor
                                      2 Billingham Road (head office)
                                      Etobicoke, Ontario, M9B 6E1
                                              fax: (416) 232-0232


Toronto, Ontario, September 26, 1996

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        PRESS_RELEASE


               $301 MILLION  CLASS ACTION  LAUNCHED
               AGAINST  NORTHWEST AIRLINES FOR
               SECOND-HAND SMOKE ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS



Everyone knows that second-hand cigarette smoke is deadly.   After
all, that is why Toronto City council recently announced a scheduled
ban on smoking in bars.

But people can still be exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke  even
where  they think they are safe.  The best example is on
international flights, where passengers are still allowed to smoke in
the smoking section.

The  representative  plaintiff in the $301  million  class  action
filed  today,  Linda Torres, recently took  a  Northwest  Airlines
flight  to Asia, and found that she was suffering  from  headaches and
breathing  difficulties, and her asthma  and  allergies  were
triggered,  while  on the plane.  Linda was gasping for  air,  and
felt like she wanted to jump out of the plane.  "I felt like I was in
a  big  aluminium prison 35,000 feet in the sky  !"   And  the
problems persisted during most of Linda's ruined vacation.

In  1988,  Northwest Airlines banned smoking on all  U.S.  flights
because  their crews were getting sick.  But they have  still  allowed
smoking  on  international flights  in  certain  designated sections
of their airplanes.  A ventilation system is supposed  to remove  the
smoke from the smoking section so that  it  does  not permeate to the
non-smoking section.  However, a National  Academy of Science study
has concluded that the theory of smoke  separation  in  aircraft  is a
fiction --  the  so-called  "separation fiction".

Even if the "separation fiction" weren't fiction, in order to save
money (and thereby increase profits), Northwest airlines has  used a
ventilation system on its international flights that  does  not
adequately remove the smoke form the smoking section, and much  of the
smoke is re-circulated back to the non-smoking  section.   The newer
jets saved as much as $60,000 in fuel costs annually per jet by
recirculating the air.   Mrs. Torres had been assured  by  the
Northwest  ground crew that she would be in a totally  non-smoking
section,  after she made a point of telling them about her  condition.

Even Northwest's own Vice-President admitted back in 1988 that
the"separation  fiction"  caused  harm to it crew.     Talk  about  a
smoking gun !  And KLM, an airline company that owns a large share
interest  in Northwest, admitted in a press release in  1995  that
smoking complaints were up 71 % from 1991.

Furthermore,  by  recirculating the air,  bacteria,  viruses,  and
other microbes and germs are also exposed to passengers.   According
to Dr. Stanley D. Abrams, M.D. of Texas, tuberculosis has been spread
on a flight of which he has knowledge.

The class action claims $150 million in compensatory damages, $150 in
punitive damages for Northwest's deliberate, callous and detrimental
conduct which needs to be deterred because of  the  health threat,
and  $1 million in funding of research  into  second-hand smoke.  The
plaintiffs in the class suffered in a variety of ways.  The  damage
is  long term (both lowered  life  expectancy  and/or damage  to
enjoyment  of life) -- contribution  to  lung  cancer, emphysema,
bronchitis, asthma, high blood pressure -- as well  as short-term --
causing, or contributing to the symptoms of,  colds, headaches,
breathing difficulties, irritation to eyes, the throats and mucous
membranes.  In addition, cases have held that  damages are
appropriate where the holiday or flight experience  has  been ruined.

The Statement of Claim that was filed today alleges that by allowing
recirculated  air to carry smoke to  non-smoking  passengers,
Northwest (a) breached its ticket contract to provide a  non-smoking
flight,  (b) was negligent in allowing smoke  to  reach  non-smokers,
(c) was negligent in not warning non-smokers that  smoke would reach
them, and (d) was guilty of misleading advertising  in advertising
non-smoking flight arrangements.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Doug Barnett, says the main issue in  this
case  is  very  simple: "Airline profits cannot be  put  ahead  of
passengers'  health.  The taxpayer also has an interest in all  of
this,  because we subsidize the health care system.  This kind  of
conduct must not only be compensated for, but must be deterred  in the
future".

It is interesting to note that a class action on behalf of  flight
attendants exposed to second-hand smoke was recently certified  in
Florida.   It  is  also interesting that Northwest  settled  a  $1
Billion price fixing case in the U.S. in a few cases.

Lawyer Barnett  came to the conclusion that the only truly  effective
way to handle all of the many claims was a class action.  "In many
cases, it simply isn't practical to have  separate  lawsuits when
each  individual's claim may only be  $1,000.   Our  justice system
is normally too expensive for individual  claimants.   But with
several thousand victims, the only way they will receive  the justice
and compensation they deserve is through a class action."

Barnett  is also the plaintiff lawyer on such  other  high-profile
class  action cases as the leaded miniblinds case, the DeVry  students
case, the Kirby door-to-door vacuum cleaner case, the
Prudential-Mutual  vanishing  premium life insurance  case,  and  the
Toby's Restaurant shortening case, and his firm is working on many
other cases as well.

An  information  hotline has been established for  passengers  who
feel that their health may have been detrimentally affected  while on
international flights using Northwest Airlines in the  last  2 years.
The  number is (416) 622-6232.  Any  person  wishing  to participate
in the class action does not have not have to pay  any money,  as the
case is being accepted by Mr. Barnett's firm  on  a contingency fee
basis, which means that the law firm will  collect legal fees based on
its actual time spent on the case only if  the case  is successful.
Percentage legal fees are not yet  legal  in Ontario.   It  is also
important to note that  the  representative plaintiff  for the class
would only obtain the same  proportionate damages award as any other
of the many members of the class.

The Ontario Court of Justice (General Division) file number at 361
University Avenue, Toronto, is 96-CU-111557CP.  For more  information,
contact Doug Barnett (lawyer), (416) 253-0888.


PASSENGERS WHO MAY HAVE BEEN INJURED BY SECOND-HAND SMOKE SHOULD CALL
THE CLASS-ACTION HOTLINE (416) 622-6232.  THERE IS NO COST TO REGISTER
YOURSELF IN THIS CLASS-ACTION, AND THUS BE ELIGIBLE FOR COMPENSATION.
ALTERNATIVELY, INJURED PASSENGERS CAN ALSO FAX-IN THEIR NAMES,
ADDRESSES, ETC., ALONG WITH A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THEIR SUFFERING.