The Justice Department says Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners.

Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years, the Justice Department said Sunday night.

Federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice this week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors accused the American aerospace giant of deceiving regulators who approved the airplane and pilot-training requirements for it.

The plea deal, which still must receive the approval of a federal judge to take effect, calls for Boeing to pay an additional $243.6 million fine. That was the same amount it paid under the 2021 settlement that the Justice Department said the company breached. An independent monitor would be named to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years.

The plea deal covers only wrongdoing by Boeing before the crashes, which killed all 346 passengers and crew members aboard two new Max jets. It does not give Boeing immunity for other incidents, including a panel that blew off a Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, a Justice Department official said.

  • Pumpkin Escobar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    127·
    4 months ago

    Boeing made $76B in revenue in 2023. This is slightly more than 1 day’s revenue for them ($210M / day) or a bit more than 10 days profit for them ($21M / day). They will keep doing what they’re doing, but increase their spending on a PR campaign to improve their public image.

    • eee@lemm.ee
      681·
      4 months ago

      They will keep doing what they’re doing

      Wrong.

      This plea deal helps them quantify the cost of safety lapses, which they didn’t have before. Now they know that they’ll only get fined a tiny bit, they know that it’ll be worth it to cut further corners if that helps them sell maybe 5-10 more planes in total.

    • Th4tGuyII@fedia.io
      251·
      4 months ago

      Exactly. This is like if you charged the average person $1 for causing a major motorway accident.

      It’s a joke of a fine in the face of Boeing’s profits - basically telling them they can get away with severe and wreckless disregard for human life in return for just over a week’s profits.