Eimer Stahl Partner and co-chair of the firm’s Litigation practice group, Brent Austin, is representing British Airways in its multimillion-dollar negligence lawsuit against the City of Chicago.
Late last year, when three of British Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts traversed the runway at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the engines ingested debris left over from the airport’s recent runway resurfacing and construction. As a result, a combined six engines were left severely damaged and required unforeseen extensive repairs, causing a slew of canceled British Airways flights. The city of Chicago has a legal obligation to thoroughly inspect taxiways and runways following construction and resurfacing work—a duty that the city, according to British Airways officials, failed to perform. The UK-based air carrier is alleging negligence, negligence per se, and breach of contract against the city of Chicago and is seeking to be reimbursed for what it paid in repairs to its Dreamliner engines.
This is an ongoing matter and we will continue to update this page as necessary with any new developments.