8 Southwest flight attendants sue Boeing for 'concealing' 737 Max
defects
Pilots, consumers and shareholders are already suing
Boeing as the jet remains grounded.
Eight flight attendants at Southwest
Airlines are suing Boeing more than a year after its 737 Max jet was grounded,
saying the airplane maker "concealed design and safety defects" from Southwest,
airline employees and the public.
The suit, which is seeking class-action
status, includes flight attendants from six states, including two from
Texas.
"In addition to concealing the known design and safety defects,
Boeing doubled down by misrepresenting to the world that the 737 Max was a safe
aircraft," the lawsuit complaint said.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S.
District Court in Chicago, where Boeing is headquartered. A spokesman for
Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents Southwest's 16,000 flight
attendants, said the union wasn't aware of the lawsuit.
Boeing declined
to comment on the suit.
Southwest, based in Dallas, said it lost more
than $450 million through the first three quarters of 2019 because it was short
airplanes without the 737 Max.
Boeing's signature, workhorse 737 Max was
grounded March 13, 2019, after plane crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia killed
346 passengers and crew members. Boeing is still working with the Federal
Aviation Administration to recertify the plane and overhaul a flawed anti-stall
software system that, when paired with a bad sensor, helped cause the
crashes.
After being grounded, Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft
are parked on the tarmac at the Southern California Logistics Airport in
Victorville.
Southwest only uses 737 planes and was depending on the
newest variant, the Max, to reduce fuel costs in the years ahead. It has more of
the aircraft than any other carrier with 34, but was supposed to get at least 40
more by the end of 2019.
Boeing said it hopes the FAA will recertify the
737 Max in mid-2020.
Much of the lawsuit from the eight flight attendants
hinges on damaging congressional testimony and documents made public last fall,
including documents that showed Boeing test pilots and other employees had long
expressed concerns about the 737 Max's anti-stall software.
The Southwest
Airlines Pilots Association is also suing Boeing for more than $100 million in
lost wages and other damages, as are groups of shareholders and consumers who
say they were misled into buying tickets, traveling on planes and investing in a
company flying the flawed aircraft.
Southwest and Boeing came to a
financial agreement in December that compensated the company for 2019 losses,
and CEO Gary Kelly said it would negotiate more based on this year's losses.
Southwest added $125 million to the profit-sharing pot for employees from the
Boeing settlement.
Much of the rest of the compensation came from
discounts on pending aircraft orders.
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