Frontier is suing American Airlines over a ground collision at Miami International Airport that left one of its airplanes out of service for six months.
The ultra-low-cost carrier is seeking damages over $100,000, according to a complaint filed in a Florida district court. The lawsuit was first reported by AirGuide.
The collision occurred on March 7, 2024, as an American Boeing 777-300ER was being pushed back from its gate. According to Frontier’s narrative, the pushback was not carried out properly and the aircraft crossed into an area occupied by a Frontier Airbus A321neo. The American jet hit the A321 and damaged its vertical stabilizer, the lawsuit states, causing extensive structural damage.
The Frontier aircraft was taken out of service until its vertical stabilizer could be replaced.
American agreed to cover the cost of the repairs, Frontier’s attorneys said, but the two carriers could not reach a final agreement on other costs, including the revenue Frontier lost from having the aircraft grounded between March and September of that year.
Frontier claims that American bears some added responsibility because the collision was not an isolated incident. A similar botched pushback by an American airplane damaged a Frontier jet in Boston, also in 2024, the carrier said.
American has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
