LOT lawsuit against Boeing trial begins

A trial has started in Seattle in Polish airline LOT's lawsuit against Boeing over losses tied to the 737 MAX grounding. The carrier is seeking no less than $250 million in damages.

SEATTLE: A trial has opened in a lawsuit filed by Polish airline LOT against Boeing over revenue losses linked to the 20-month grounding of the 737 MAX after two fatal crashes.

According to court papers published on Monday night, jury selection began on Monday morning in a federal court in Seattle, followed by opening statements from lawyers. Questioning of a fleet manager for LOT also got under way.

The airline, formally known as Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A., is seeking no less than $250 million in damages. In its complaint, the carrier said it suffered lost income during the 2019-20 grounding because of Boeing's purposeful and negligent false representations and omissions concerning the 737 MAX aircraft.

The case focuses on LOT's argument that Boeing should compensate the airline for business losses caused by the grounding of the MAX fleet after the 2018 Lion Air crash and the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash. The two disasters killed a combined 346 people.

Boeing has acknowledged that a defective flight-stabilising system, known as MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, played a role in the crashes. The US Federal Aviation Administration cleared the 737 MAX to return to service in November 2020 after Boeing made changes to the system.

First airline case over MAX grounding to reach trial

The LOT case is the first lawsuit by an airline related to the 737 MAX to proceed to trial. Boeing has also faced dozens of claims from relatives of people killed in the MAX crashes, with most of those cases resolved out of court.

Unless the parties reach a settlement, the trial is expected to continue until around May 26, according to the court papers. Some documents in the case remain under seal.

Both LOT and Boeing declined to comment when approached by AFP.

The trial comes after years of legal and regulatory fallout from the MAX crisis. In November 2025, a US judge dismissed criminal charges against Boeing over the crashes under an agreement with US prosecutors.