Southwest Airlines Wins Cyber Insurance Appeal Against Liberty

Southwest Airlines Co. won a cyber insurance dispute with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. after a federal appeals court said the policy potentially covers network disruptions that caused half a million flight delays and cancellations in 2016, reversing a lower court ruling.

The airline’s business losses from computer failures could be covered by its $10 million cyber risk insurance, and the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas wrongly granted summary judgment to the insurer, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Tuesday. The appeals panel remanded the case for further consideration.

The precedential decision marks ...