Class Action Alleging Southwest Sold Tickets on Dangerously Faulty Boeing Planes Is Certified

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Boeing, Southwest 737 RICO Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Southwest Airlines and Boeing are being sued over alleged false claims about jetliners.
• What: A group of airline passengers claim that Boeing and Southwest Airlines conspired to mislead customers into believing that Boeing 737 Max jets were safer than they are.
• Where: The lawsuit was filed by a nationwide Class of passengers and is playing out in federal court in Texas.

Thousands of airline passengers who bought plane tickets on Boeing 737 Max 8 jets they say had a “fatal design defect” could soon go to trial over the claims, after a Texas federal judge certified their class action lawsuit. 

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant granted the plaintiffs’ request to certify Classes in the lawsuit filed against Boeing and Southwest Airlines in 2019. 

The certified Classes include a group of customers who bought Southwest Airlines tickets, and another Class that bought American Airlines tickets from Aug. 29, 2017, to March 13, 2019, whose flights were scheduled on Max 8 aircrafts. 

The decision could pave a path to trial over potential damages for thousands of travelers.

“Even if the Court considered only those flight segments for which a MAX 8 was scheduled to fly and was actually flown, the proposed classes would each contain thousands of members,” Judge Mazzant wrote in Friday’s order.

In the 2019 complaint, ​a group of airline passengers claimed that Boeing and Southwest Airlines conspired to mislead customers into believing that Boeing 737 Max jets were safer than they are, claiming there’s a “fatal design defect” in the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. 

Allegedly, the planes had sensors that triggered the automated flight control feature that brings the plane’s nose down if the angle of the sensors is too high.

This defect has reportedly been linked to two Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes — the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash that killed 157 people on March 10, 2019, and the Lion Air Flight 610 crash that killed 189 people in October 2018. The Max 8 jets were grounded globally for more than 20 months before getting cleared to fly again in late 2020. 

The plaintiffs are suing under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and have also filed claims for fraud by concealment, fraud by misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and negligence.

According to the lawsuit, Southwest Airlines is one of Boeing’s biggest domestic customers, and was a “launch carrier” for a new line of fuel-efficient Max 8 jets. Allegedly, being a “launch carrier” for the planes meant that the airline had a role in developing and customizing the planes.

Customers in the Southwest collusion case assert that in its role as a launch carrier for Boeing, Southwest received incentives to not conduct as extensive testing as it otherwise would, in an attempt to speed the release of the aircrafts.

The plaintiffs allege that if they had known the MAX 8 was fatally defective, they would never have purchased tickets — so they want their money back. 

Secondly, they say the defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions allowed Southwest to overcharge plaintiffs for their tickets. They’re seeking damages in a jury trial.

Did you purchase tickets from Southwest and feel you were overcharged? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Yavar Bathaee, David H. Hecht, Andrew J. Lorin, Michael M. Pomerantz, Barron M. Flood and Brian J. Dunne of Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP.

The Southwest Boeing 737 Defect Collusion Class Action Lawsuit is Earl, et al. v. The Boeing Company, et al., Case No. 4:19-cv-00507, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

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