Boeing was acquitted by the jury in the lawsuit filed by LOT in the case of the 737 MAX planes
A US jury ruled on Friday that Boeing is not guilty in a lawsuit filed by the Polish company LOT for the loss of revenue caused by the 20-month grounding of 737 MAX planes following two air disasters, reports AFP.
LOT accused Boeing of fraud and sought $250 million in damages for lost revenue due to “deliberate and negligent misrepresentations and omissions regarding the 737 MAX,” according to the original complaint.
The jury in this trial, which took place in federal court in Seattle, however, found that it was not a case of fraud, according to court documents seen by France Presse.
“We are pleased with the jury's verdict in our favor,” a Boeing spokesman said
LOT's claims came after the US Civil Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a 20-month grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft operated worldwide between March 2019 and November 2020.
This decision was taken after the crashes of a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 on October 29, 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines plane on March 10, 2019, which caused a total of 346 deaths.
Boeing then admitted in 2019 that anti-speed loss software contributed to those crashes.
What LOT complains about in the complaint
LOT, which was the first airline to sue the US planemaker over the matter, said it was “taking note” of the ruling.
“The company will review available options to take further legal action in this case,” it said in a statement.
In the complaint filed in October 2021, the company accuses the American manufacturer of causing it financial harm due to the cancellation of flights, the costs of storing the immobilized aircraft and the wages owed to employees who should have worked on these machines.
LOT accused Boeing of “false statements and omissions” regarding the 737 MAX, the builder's latest model, which “strongly persuaded” it to choose this model over the predecessor 737 NG it originally wanted.
Boeing has reached out to the families of the victims
Boeing is also the subject of dozens of lawsuits filed by families of victims of 737 MAX crashes, almost all of which have resulted in out-of-court settlements.
On May 14, a Chicago court awarded $49.5 million in damages to the relatives of a 24-year-old American woman who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The first civil trial against Boeing related to the two accidents took place in November 2025. The jury awarded $28.45 million in damages to the husband of one of the victims.
The next trial is scheduled for August 3 and concerns the death of another Ethiopian Airlines flight passenger, Michael Ryan, an Irish engineer for the UN's World Food Program (WFP).
Regarding the Lion Air crash, all complaints resulted in amicable settlements. The last one, regarding the only foreigner on the flight, a 26-year-old Italian, was concluded at the end of February.
After numerous twists and turns since 2021, a Texas judge ordered on November 6, 2025, to drop the criminal prosecution against Boeing for the two accidents.
Photo: jpg1902 | Dreamstime.com
