Originally Posted by
Repos
I seem to recall that this is paid upon identification of the victim
Wikipedia
Under the Montreal Convention, air carriers are
strictly liable for proven damages up to 113,100.00
special drawing rights (SDR), a mix of currency values established by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) equal to roughly US$170,000.
[3] Where damages of more than 113,100.00 SDR are sought, the airline may avoid liability by proving that the accident which caused the injury or death was not due to their negligence or was attributable solely to the negligence of a third party.
[4] This defense is not available where damages of less than 113,100.00 SDR are sought. The Convention also amended the jurisdictional provisions of Warsaw and now allows the victim or their families to sue foreign carriers where they maintain their principal residence, and requires all air carriers to carry
liability insurance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Convention
The Montreal Convention doesn't apply to all carriage by air, outside of the EU it is generally only international carriage. Thus it applies to the Ethiopian flight, but the carrier can limit their liability to SDR113k, since it is largely known the crash wasn't their fault. Lionair was a domestic flight, thus local legislation applies, which is cUSD88k.
Now, none of this matters in a claim against Boeing since there is no legislation limiting the amount that can be claimed, however the issue will be that the airlines might need to prove Gross Negligence on the part of Boeing, since otherwise Boeing will seek to rely on the indemnity in the purchase agreements and pass the cost of the claims back to the actual airlines!
So at strict liability, the Ethiopian claim for passenger liability could be USD27m and the Lionair could be USD16m. The challenge for the claimants lawyers is getting the claim into either an EU or US court, then the number and be multiplied, but in theory only against in a claim against Boeing not the airlines.