Ethiopian Federal policemen be chilling at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on March 11, 2019. Tiksa Negeri | Reuters
So, the U.S. Justice Department spilled the beans on Friday that they struck a deal with Boeing to dodge prosecution over two crashes of their 737 Max planes that ended up killing 346 people. The deal is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card for Boeing, the big shot military contractor and top U.S. exporter. They won’t have to deal with the whole felon label, and they can avoid the drama of a trial that was supposed to go down next month. The families of the crash victims have been pushing for justice for years, but it looks like they’re not going to get the satisfaction they’ve been seeking.
The Department of Justice had a little chit-chat with the crash victims’ families last week to talk about this potential deal. In a court filing on Friday, the DOJ said that they believe this agreement is a fair and just way to handle things that serves the public interest. Basically, they’re trying to wrap things up nicely without all the mess of a trial. The DOJ plans to file a motion to dismiss the case once everything is finalized, which should be by the end of next week. Under this agreement, Boeing will have to cough up more than $1.1 billion, including a hefty $487.2 million criminal fine. They also have to put $444.5 million into a new fund for the crash victims and invest $445 million in compliance, safety, and quality programs. Sounds like Boeing is paying a pretty penny to make this whole mess go away.
Not really sure why this matters, but Boeing has been trying to sweep these two crashes of their best-selling Max planes under the rug for a while now. The Maxes were grounded worldwide for almost two years after the second crash, giving Airbus a leg up in the aviation game during the Covid pandemic. But the families of the crash victims aren’t buying into these sweet deals for Boeing. They want more accountability and think the company’s big shots should be facing the music in court. Last year, a former chief technical pilot for Boeing got off the hook on fraud charges related to the Max’s development. Some of the victims’ family members are not happy with this new deal, saying it sets a bad example for other big companies. Not everyone is on board with this agreement, and some are ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure Boeing faces the consequences of their actions.
Seems like Boeing is making it rain with all this cash to settle things once and for all. They reached a settlement in 2021 that shielded them from prosecution for three years, but that deal was on its way out the door. Then, last year, U.S. prosecutors called Boeing out for not playing by the rules and failing to set up an ethics program to sniff out fraud. Boeing agreed to plead guilty to the criminal fraud charge, but a federal judge wasn’t having it. The judge had some issues with the diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements for choosing a corporate monitor. Boeing was looking at a fine of up to $487.2 million under this new deal, but the DOJ suggested they cut that in half since Boeing already paid up in the previous agreement. The U.S. accused Boeing of pulling a fast one on regulators by misleading them about a flight-control system on the Max that turned out to be a disaster in the making.
Looks like Boeing is finally facing the music for their role in these tragic crashes, and they’re paying a hefty price to make things right. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but hopefully, this settlement brings some closure to the families who lost their loved ones in those devastating accidents.
