Experts have predicted that Boeing Inc. could draw up more losses as it faces over 30 lawsuits in connection to two crashes in October and March that involved 737 Max models.
According to Yahoo Finance, court documents and recent reports about the company's crash-related lawsuits suggest that around 34 claims have been lodged against the American jet maker.
The news came after Boeing published its quarterly earnings report last week. The report revealed that the airplane giant incurred at least $1 billion in losses following the decision of global regulators and airlines to ground 737 Max fleets.
The company said it could not estimate total costs that lawsuits revolve around the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. However, some industry analysts said Boeing could not dispute liability on the 737 Max model claims.
"Liability will not truly be in dispute here. Boeing is at fault. Their equipment failed. Their planes crashed twice," Herrmann Law Firm attorney and representative of families of 26 Lion Air crash victims, Mark Lindquist, said.
It is further expected that Boeing will most likely incur added expenses and losses since its 737 Max jets have yet to be certified again following the crashes. The company said it is close to getting the models in question back on the air.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is under the watchful eyes of the U.S. Justice Department as the aviation authority's certification of the Boeing 737 Max will undergo criminal investigation.
On Saturday, it was reported that whistleblowers called the FAA hotline shortly after preliminary crash investigation findings were revealed to report issues on the 737 Max jet. According to CNN, a source with knowledge of the situation said both former and current Boeing employees relayed sensor-related problems.
The FAA has since confirmed that four hotline submissions were lodged on April 5. The aviation authority also said it is considering the possibility of a new investigative angle on why the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights crashed.
Boeing has also defended itself against claims that its 787 Dreamliner factory in South Carolina had manufacturing flaws in its processes. The New York Times first reported on the matter, citing internal emails that detailed production problems mentioned by employees.
The Times did clarify that there have been no safety-related incidents with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner despite debris and tools reportedly discovered in some models that left the South Carolina plant.
It is unclear when the Boeing 737 Max models will start flying again as an international joint panel that includes experts from NASA and other airlines and agencies has yet to review the jets' certification.
