DALLAS, Texas - The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) recently announced that it has filed a lawsuit against The Boeing Company for deliberately misleading the organization and its pilots about the 737 MAX aircraft.
The lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, alleges that SWAPA pilots agreed to fly the 737 MAX aircraft based on Boeing's representations that it was airworthy and essentially the same as the time tested 737 aircraft that its pilots have flown for years. A news release furnished by the union claims that "Boeing's errors cost the lives of 346 people, damaged the critical bond between pilots and passengers, and reduced opportunities for air travel across the United States and around the world. "
The grounding of the 737 MAX has caused the elimination of more than 30,000 scheduled Southwest flights. This is expected to reduce the airline's passenger service 8% by the end of 2019, resulting in compensation losses for SWAPA pilots in excess of $100 million. Southwest is the largest domestic operator of the 737 MAX, and the aircraft is not expected to return to passenger service until the first quarter of 2020.
A .pdf of the complaint is available here.
