Trial opens in airline's suit over Boeing 737 MAX grounding

The Polish carrier is seeking "no less than $250 million" for lost income during the 2019-20 grounding due to "Boeing's purposeful and negligent false representations and omissions concerning the 737 MAX aircraft," according to LOT's complaint.

The trial in a Seattle federal courthouse commenced Monday morning with jury selection, after which attorneys delivered opening remarks, according to US court papers published Monday night.

Questioning also began of a fleet manager for LOT. The company's full name is Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A.

Barring a settlement, the trial is expected to run until about May 26, according to court papers.

Both LOT and Boeing declined AFP's request for comment.

Some of the documents in the case are under seal.

The case centers on LOT's claims that Boeing should compensate it for lost business due to the MAX grounding following Lion Air's 2018 crash and Ethiopian Airlines' 2019 crash that together claimed 346 lives.

Boeing has acknowledged that a flawed flight-stabilizing program known as the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) contributed to the crashes.

The US Federal Aviation Administration in November 2020 cleared the MAX to resume service after Boeing upgraded the system.

The LOT case is the first MAX-related challenge to Boeing from an airline to go to trial. Boeing has also faced dozens of claims from family members of MAX victims, the vast majority of which settled out of court.

In November 2025, a US judge dropped criminal charges against Boeing over the MAX crashes as part of an agreement with US prosecutors.

Under the settlement with the US Department of Justice, Boeing will pay $1.1 billion in return for the dismissal of a charge of "conspiracy to defraud the United States" over its conduct in the certification of the MAX, according to a federal filing.