US Court Rejects Boeing Shareholder Class Action Over MAX 9 Blowout

A US federal appeals court has decertified a shareholder class action accusing Boeing of prioritising profits over safety and overstating its commitment to aircraft safety before the January 2024 mid-air cabin panel blowout involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that shareholders, led by Rhode Island’s state treasurer, had failed to demonstrate how damages could be calculated on a class-wide basis or determine how much Boeing’s alleged misrepresentations artificially inflated its share price at different points.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr said the shareholders’ damages expert had presented only a series of “maybes”, “perhapses” and “what ifs”.

He also said the trial judge had not properly applied a 2013 US Supreme Court ruling that decertified an antitrust class action brought by Comcast cable television subscribers.

The Rhode Island treasurer and lawyers representing the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Boeing and its legal representatives also did not immediately respond.

‘Safety Dominates Boeing’ Claim

Class actions allow groups of investors or consumers to pursue claims collectively, potentially reducing legal costs and increasing potential recoveries.

Shareholders alleged that Boeing inflated its stock price through false and misleading statements, including assurances that “safety dominates Boeing” and that employees could raise concerns when problems emerged.

The claims followed two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people.

On 5 January 2024, a cabin panel blew out on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 shortly after take-off from Portland, Oregon. One flight attendant and seven passengers suffered minor injuries.

Boeing’s share price fell 8% on the next trading day.

The blowout triggered a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice, which later said Boeing had failed to comply with a 2021 agreement requiring the company to pay more than $2.5 billion to resolve a criminal charge linked to the MAX crashes.

In June 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board said Boeing had failed to install four bolts securing the cabin panel on Flight 1282 and lacked adequate training and oversight to prevent the incident.

In March 2025, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, had certified a class of shareholders who owned Boeing stock between 7 January 2021 and 8 January 2024. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.

Boeing is also facing a separate shareholder class action arising from the MAX crashes, which was certified by a Chicago federal judge in March.

 

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