Boeing Sued by Plane Lessor to Void Contract for 22 Max Jets

(Bloomberg) -- An Irish company that buys and leases airplanes sued Boeing Co. in the U.S. to void contracts for almost two dozen 737 Max aircraft and to demand at least $185 million in damages, citing design flaws that led to two deadly crashes.

Timaero Ireland Ltd., based in Dublin, sued Boeing on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago, alleging fraud and breach of contract in deals it signed starting in 2014 for 22 of the jets. The company said it relied on Boeing’s assurances that the planes were safe and would be delivered on time.

After crashes of 737 Max planes flown by Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019 killed a combined 346 people, the planes were grounded and a flaw in the flight-control sensors has been blamed, Timaero said.

As of Tuesday, Boeing was supposed to have delivered four of the 737 Max jets to Timaero, but has delivered only two, the Irish company said. Boeing has refused to refund Timaero’s advance payments on the planes, according to the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Boeing, Paul Bergman, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Read More: Boeing Halts 737 Max Output to Save Cash During Grounding

The case is Timaero vs. Boeing, 1:19-cv-08234, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

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