Boeing is sued by shareholders following MAX 9 blowout

Boeing has been sued by shareholders who said the company prioritized profit over safety and misled them about its commitment to making safe aircraft, prior to the Jan. 5 mid-air cabin panel blowout on an Alaskan Airlines 737 MAX 9. According to a proposed class action filed on Tuesday, Boeing spent more than four years after the Oct. 2018 and March 2019 crashes of two other MAX planes, which killed 346 people, assuring investors that it was "laser-focused" on safety and would not sacrifice safety for profit. Shareholders said Boeing's statements were false and misleading because they concealed the "poor quality control" on its assembly line, and caused its stock price to be inflated. Boeing's share price fell 18.9% from Jan. 5 to Jan. 25, 2024, the day after the Federal Aviation Commission barred Boeing from expanding MAX production because of safety concerns. The decline wiped out more than $28b of market value. The lawsuit filed in the Alexandria, Virginia, federal court covers shareholders from Oct. 23, 2019 to Jan. 24, 2024, and is led by Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa. Other defendants include Boeing CE Dave Calhoun and his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg, and CFO Brian West and his predecessor Gregory Smith.<br/>