'I love my airline, but they didn't love me back': Southwest flight attendant blames airline for husband's COVID death Dawn Gilbertson, USA TODAY A Southwest Airlines flight attendant has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the airline, alleging that lax COVID protocols during mandatory training last summer and slack contact tracing after an attendee tested positive led to her husband's death from the virus. Carol Madden, a 69-year-old Baltimore-based flight attendant who has worked for Southwest since 2016, is seeking more than $3 million in damages for what the lawsuit says was the airline's negligence, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland.