A U.S. federal judge has ruled that LOT Polish Airlines may continue to pursue fraud claims against Boeing over its 737 MAX aircraft, while dismissing other parts of the airline’s case. The ruling, issued Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, comes nearly four years after the Polish flag carrier filed its lawsuit in Seattle.
LOT first brought the case in October 2021, alleging that Boeing made “material false representations and omissions” about the MAX, including assurances that it was “safe, airworthy, and essentially the same” as the earlier 737NG.
The airline claimed that Boeing “prioritized its bottom line over safety and the rights of its customers” in order to quickly compete with the Airbus A320neo.
In its 143-page complaint, LOT argued that Boeing “abandoned sound design and engineering practices, withheld safety-critical information from regulators, and deliberately misled its customers.” The filing cited the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), the software linked to two fatal crashes, as a system concealed from both regulators and operators.
“Had LOT known the truth about the 737 MAX aircraft before it agreed to acquire them, it never would have entered into lease agreements to acquire the aircraft,” the complaint stated.
The airline said it suffered millions of dollars in damages after aviation authorities grounded the MAX worldwide for nearly two years following the crashes of Lion Air flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in March 2019. According to the lawsuit, LOT was forced to cancel flights, compensate passengers, and lease replacement aircraft, all while continuing to pay staff who otherwise would have operated the MAX.
In its defense, Boeing argued that the claims were barred by contractual agreements, which limited remedies to repair or replacement of defective aircraft and excluded liability for consequential damages. The court agreed in part, dismissing LOT’s claims for negligent misrepresentation and breach of implied warranties.
Case Proceeds
But Judge Ricardo S. Martinez allowed the airline’s fraud claims to proceed, ruling that there are unresolved factual disputes over what Boeing knew about MCAS and how much information was disclosed to airline customers. Those questions, the court said, must be decided by a jury rather than through summary judgment.
The outcome narrows the scope of LOT’s case but preserves its central allegation: that Boeing misled the airline about the design and safety of the MAX. The complaint also noted that LOT flew its five delivered 737 MAX aircraft extensively before the grounding, saying the carrier was “susceptible to the same fate” as airlines whose aircraft were involved in the accidents.
LOT had 14 MAX jets on order at the time of the grounding — five in service and nine awaiting delivery. Those deliveries were never completed as the worldwide ban remained in effect until late 2020. The airline continues to seek damages in court, and no trial date has yet been scheduled.
