A Canadian pilot working for an unnamed airline filed a class action lawsuit against Boeing (BOE, Washington National) on behalf of over 400 pilots employed by the same carrier for financial and other losses arising from the circumstances and grounding of the B737 MAX fleet.
Two law firms representing the plaintiffs, International Aerospace Law & Policy Group and PMJ PLLC, said that while it was impossible to tally the losses at this point in time, they "are expected to be in the millions of dollars".
The lawyers also said that "pilot income and career certainty have been adversely affected by Boeing’s focus on profits over safety".
"Many pilots worldwide have either been laid off, made to relocate bases, or at least suffered significant diminishment to flight opportunities and pay," Principal and Legal Practice Director of IALPG Joseph Wheeler said.
The same pilot also filed an administrative claim with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
"If Pilot X's grievance is ignored or the FAA's response is otherwise inadequate, Pilot X will file a lawsuit against the United States for the FAA’s negligence in certifying the MAX by Christmas Eve of 2019," the law firms said in a press release.
Citing court documents, ABC further reported that the Pilot X - who chose to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisal - alleged that Boeing engaged in "an unprecedented cover-up of the known design flaws of the MAX". The plaintiff also underlined that Boeing did not tell pilots about the new MCAS system or required them to undergo MCAS training. The faulty system - a new feature of the MAX family - has contributed to deadly crashes of Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) and Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) B737-8s.
A court in Chicago will hear the case on October 21, 2019.
