US press are reporting that now-defunct South African carrier, Comair, is suing Boeing for fraud and breach of contract relating to the airline’s purchase of eight B737MAX aircraft nearly a decade ago.
Comair successfully operated a BA franchise in Southern Africa, and LCC kulula.com. When it entered insolvency in June 2022, it was 79 years old.
Reuters has reported that the lawsuit, filed in Seattle on Monday, February 6, alleged that Boeing "placed profits over safety and led with a plan of deception".
Comair is seeking more than US$83m (R1,45bn) in damages. This is a part of its federal lawsuit, which claims that Boeing sold the jets without disclosing known issues with the automated flight-control system, known as MCAS.
MCAS has been named as the cause of the crash in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia in 2019, both total hull-losses with tragic loss of all lives on board both flights. These two events led to B737MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide for more than one and a half years.
Comair alleges that Boeing concealed the MCAS issues and falsely indicated that the pilot skills needed to fly a B737 MAX were "interchangeable" with the training and skill required to pilot the existing B737 NG aircraft. Relying on that information, Comair purchased eight B737 MAX jets in 2013 for a base price of more than $98 million (R1,72 billion), the company said.
Comair said it had since made $45,2 million (R793 million) in advance payments on seven of the aircraft and full payment on the one jet it received. Boeing is alleged to have refused to return the advance deposits on the seven undelivered jets, according to the lawsuit.
According to moneyUSnews.com Polish airline LOT sued Boeing in 2021 on similar grounds and that suit is pending. LOT asked a US court to declare it was a crime victim in the Boeing 737 MAX criminal case. LOT has said it has $250 million (R4,4 billion) in damages.
In October 2022, US Judge O’Connor ruled that “in sum, but for Boeing’s criminal conspiracy to defraud the FAA, 346 people would not have lost their lives in the crashes”. He ruled that the victims were crime victims. LOT said it should have the same rights.
Boeing is believed to have already reached a $2,5 billion (R43,8 billion) settlement with federal prosecutors, related to the B737 MAX, and is also facing civil lawsuits from relatives of victims of the crashes.
