US Jury Finds Boeing Not Guilty in 737 MAX Grounding Lawsuit

New York: A U.S. jury ruled Friday that aviation giant Boeing is not liable for lost revenue in a case involving its 737 MAX jets, which were grounded for 20 months after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The initial complaint said Polish airline LOT accused Boeing of fraud and sued Boeing for $250 million in lost revenue after alleging “intentional and negligent misrepresentations and omissions regarding the 737 MAX aircraft.”

But the jury at the trial at the Seattle federal courthouse decided that was not the case, according to court documents reviewed by AFP.

“We are pleased with the jury’s verdict in our favor,” a Boeing spokesman told AFP.

The case arose from LOT’s claims that Boeing was forced to pay compensation for lost business due to the long-term MAX flight suspension following Lion Air’s 2018 crash and Ethiopian Airlines’ 2019 crash that killed a total of 346 people.

Following the crashes, Boeing acknowledged that a faulty flight stabilization program known as MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) contributed to the disasters.

The lawsuit by the airline, whose full name is Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA, is Boeing’s first MAX-related case to be prosecuted by an airline.