Boeing is Being Sued by Southwest Airlines Pilots

The Southwest Airlines’ Pilots’ union is suing Boeing over lost income due to the company grounding 737 Max planes after two deadly crashes.

No other U.S. airline has ordered as many 737 planes next to Southwest.

The planes have been grounded since mid-March and according to the pilots, the aircraft manufacturer misled the airline’s labor union about the plane.

According to the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the planes’ grounding cost its pilots more than $100 million in lost income and it wants Boeing to pay up. The grounding of the planes had forced the Dallas-based airline to cut back on flights.

Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet and had 34 of the new Max planes in its fleet at the time of the grounding. The company was also expecting dozens more on the way.

Two fatal crashes prompted global aviation regulators to order airlines to ground the 737 Max.

It was this past July that Southwest cut the 737 Max from its schedules until early January and said it would end service at Newark to free up planes for more profitable routes. The airline said it plans to cut back on flying this year by as much as 2%, down from targeted growth of about 5%.

“We believe this lawsuit is meritless and will vigorously defend against it,” Boeing said in a statements “We will continue to work with Southwest Airlines and its pilots on efforts to safely return the Max to service.”

The pilots union said it agreed to fly the Max because Boeing assured that “it was airworthy and essentially the same as the time-tested 737 aircraft that its pilots have flown for years.” It added, “These representations were false.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.