A bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday approved $124.2 million in fees and expenses for the lawyers and advisers who helped Northwest Airlines Corp. through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But he held off on awarding another $4.2 million in possible bonuses. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper, who presided over the Eagan-based carrier's bankruptcy case, denied a petition for a $3.5 million bonus for Northwest's lead law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and a $700,000 bonus for creditor law firm Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, according to the Associated Press.

To be eligible for those payments, their work should have produced a "remarkable result" that wouldn't have been the result of ordinary performance.

The Association of Flight Attendants, the U.S. trustee on the case and a former creditor had opposed the bonuses.

Cadwalader earned $35.4 million in fees and $2.2 million in expenses. Otterrbourg earned $7 million in fees and $210,231 in expenses. They were among 24 law firms and advisers that were part of Northwest's bankruptcy team. The group included Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney, which had applied for final fees of $3.2 million and expenses of $171,753, according to legal filings.