Title: Boeing Reaches $2.5 Billion 737 Max Settlement with U.S. - The New York Times
Headings: Boeing Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement With U.S. Over 737 Max
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Boeing Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement With U.S. Over 737 Max
The company agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
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Content: The two accidents deeply damaged Boeing’s once-sterling reputation and hurt its relationships with airlines and aviation regulators around the world. The company eventually fired its chief executive and the scandal has cost it billions of dollars in fines, settlements and lost orders. With less than two weeks left in the Trump administration, the agreement takes the question of how a Biden Justice Department would view a settlement off the table. President Trump had repeatedly discussed the importance of Boeing to the economy, even going so far last year to say he favored a bailout for the company. There was never a real threat that prosecutors would have sought a criminal conviction. Such a move could have potentially put Boeing, one of the largest U.S. manufacturers, out of business and cost tens of thousands of jobs at the plane maker, its suppliers and other businesses. The criminal charge against the company centered on the actions of two employees who withheld information from the F.A.A. about changes made to software known as MCAS. The software was later implicated in both crashes. “Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the F.A.A. concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception,” David P. Burns, acting assistant attorney general of the department’s criminal division, said in a statement. “ This resolution holds Boeing accountable for its employees’ criminal misconduct, addresses the financial impact to Boeing’s airline customers, and hopefully provides some measure of compensation to the crash-victims’ families and beneficiaries.”