Boeing Reaches DoJ Deal to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing will pay more than $1.1 billion under a new non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations that it submitted false pricing data on equipment sold to the U.S. military and to avoid criminal liability for two 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people. Under the settlement, Boeing will incur a $487.2 million criminal fine—offset by $243.6 million already paid under a prior 2021 deferred-prosecution agreement—establish a $444.5 million compensation fund for crash victims’ families and invest $445 million in compliance, safety and quality programs. The DOJ characterized the accord as “a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest,” noting that it “guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial.” Boeing said it was “pleased to have been able to amicably resolve the matter” and underscored that the agreement carries “no admission of fault or liability.”

The deal defers prosecution of a fraud charge tied to Boeing’s marketing of the 737 MAX aircraft— specifically charges that company executives knowingly concealed material information about the MCAS flight-control system on fixed-price military contracts dating from 2006 to 2014. The non-prosecution agreement requires the DOJ to move to dismiss the case by the end of next week once final papers are signed. Boeing’s lawyers and the Justice Department met with crash victims’ relatives last week, and while more than 110 families signaled support for resolving the matter pre-trial, others vowed to challenge the deal in court, calling it “unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,” according to their attorney, Paul Cassell.

The settlement follows a series of earlier agreements intended to avert criminal trials. In December 2021, the first Trump administration negotiated a deferred-prosecution deal that shielded Boeing from fraud charges for three years in exchange for a $2.51 billion payment—comprising a $243.6 million fine, a $500 million victims’ fund and $1.77 billion in credits to airline customers. That agreement was set to expire just days after a panel blow-out on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January 2024 revealed lingering safety lapses. Last year, prosecutors accused Boeing of violating the 2021 deal by failing to enforce adequate compliance and ethics programs, prompting an attempted plea in July 2024 to a new fraud count that a federal judge ultimately rejected over concerns about corporate monitor selection and diversity requirements.

Victims’ families have repeatedly pressed for Boeing executives to face trial, citing internal messages in which former technical pilot Mark Forkner referred to a “jedi-mind trick” to mislead FAA regulators about MCAS. Though Forkner was acquitted of fraud in 2022, lawmakers and advocacy groups have decried each settlement as too lenient. Boeing’s leadership, meanwhile, has sought to draw a line under the MAX tragedies, emphasizing the company’s investments in safety enhancements and ongoing work on high-profile defense projects, including the conversion of a gifted Qatari 747 into a future Air Force One and Vice President’s office modifications.

As Boeing transitions into compliance-focused oversight mandated by the latest agreement, it will face continued scrutiny from regulators, investors and the public. The $1.1 billion payment package eclipses many corporate settlements under the False Claims Act, yet leaves unresolved the demand for individual accountability. While the non-prosecution deal spares Boeing a felony conviction that could imperil military and federal contracts, it also cements the Justice Department’s evolving approach to large-scale corporate misconduct—balancing deterrence and restitution against the risks of protracted litigation in cases that involve complex engineering failures and tragic loss of life.

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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, cnbc.com