( CNN ) -- New York brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed to settle with American Airlines for $ 135 million in a lawsuit seeking damages from the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks . The settlement was announced on Friday , but the amount was not released until Tuesday . `` For the insurance companies , this was just another case , just another settlement , but not for us , '' Howard W. Lutnick , Cantor Fitzgerald 's chairman and CEO , said in a statement . `` We could never , and will never , consider it ordinary . For us , there is no way to describe this compromise with inapt words like ordinary , fair or reasonable . All we can say is that the legal formality of this matter is over . '' In 2004 , Cantor Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit seeking $ 1 billion in damages from American Airlines . The firm claimed that American Airlines was negligent by failing to detect the hijackers , permitting them to board and hijack the airplane . The firm claimed the negligence resulted in business interruption losses and the destruction of its office and corporate property . Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into its top-floor offices in the World Trade Center 's North Tower . `` American Airlines and the courageous crew members and passengers on Flight 77 and Flight 11 were all victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 . American has vigorously defended itself in litigation brought against it by property owners and their insurers who allege that American should have done what the government could not do : prevent the terrorist attacks , '' American Airlines said in a statement . The settlement still needs to be approved by the judge , which is scheduled for January 13 . `` Our insurers have agreed to settle the claims by Cantor Fitzgerald . Although this settlement ends these particular legal disputes , American will forever honor the memory of the true victims and selfless heroes of 9/11 , '' American Airlines said . CNN 's Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report .
Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center on 658 . The brokerage firm sued Cantor Fitzgerald , whose Flight 77 plowed into its offices . The firm and airline settled the $ 135 million lawsuit for $ 1 billion .