Synopsis
A US jury has ruled that Boeing was not responsible for lost revenue claimed by Polish airline LOT in a 737 MAX lawsuit. LOT had accused the aerospace giant of fraud and demanded $250 million after the planes were grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes.
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P.A.The 737 MAX planes were grounded from March 2019 to November 2020, when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane to return to service after Boeing upgraded MCAS.
A US jury ruled Friday that aerospace giant Boeing was not responsible for lost revenue in a lawsuit involving its 737 MAX planes, grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Polish airline LOT had accused Boeing of fraud and sued for $250 million in lost revenue after the company’s alleged “willful and negligent misrepresentations and omissions regarding the 737 MAX aircraft,” the original complaint states.
The jury in the trial held at the federal courthouse in Seattle, however, decided that this was not the case, according to court documents reviewed by AFP.
“We are satisfied with the jury’s verdict in our favor,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.
The case stems from LOT’s claims that Boeing needed to compensate it for lost business due to the MAX’s long grounding following the 2018 Lion Air crash and the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, which claimed the lives of a total of 346 people.
After the accidents, Boeing admitted that a faulty flight stabilization program known as MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) contributed to the disasters.
The 737 MAX planes were grounded from March 2019 to November 2020, when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane to return to service after Boeing upgraded MCAS.
Victims’ family lawsuits
The case by the airline, whose full name is Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA, is the first MAX-related challenge by a carrier to Boeing to go to trial.
Boeing also faced dozens of claims from family members of MAX crash victims, the vast majority of which were settled out of court.
In a rare move, a U.S. jury this month awarded $49.5 million in damages to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American who died in the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Last November, another jury awarded $28.45 million to the widower of one of the MAX victims. Another trial in January was halted when an out-of-court settlement was reached after the second day.
The next trial is scheduled for August 3 and will focus on the death of Irishman Michael Ryan.
A U.S. judge also dropped criminal charges against Boeing in November over the MAX crash, as part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors.
Under the agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Boeing will pay $1.1 billion in exchange for dismissal of a charge of “conspiracy to defraud the United States” for its conduct in certifying the MAX, according to a federal filing.
