The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a preliminary settlement with Boeing in the case of two fatal plane crashes. These involve accidents with two 737 MAX aircraft, in which 346 people died. A previous deal fell through.
In 2021, Boeing admitted to misleading the U.S. aviation authority about a malfunctioning system that played a major role in a crash in Indonesia in 2018 and one in Ethiopia in 2019.
If the agreement is approved by the judge, Boeing will avoid criminal prosecution. It involves an amount of $1.1 billion that Boeing must pay to the U.S. That amount includes a fine and compensation. If the judge does not approve the deal, the lawsuit is scheduled for June 23.
In addition to the settlement deal, Boeing has pledged to spend $445 million on improving the company’s compliance, safety, and quality programs.
In a previous settlement of $2.5 billion, the company promised to improve its own operations. But last year, several scandals came to light, revealing that Boeing personnel were not very strict with measures to guarantee the safety of aircraft.
Boeing then made a new deal with the Justice Department, in which the aircraft manufacturer admitted that it had not complied with the terms of the previous settlement. That opened the way for criminal prosecution.
In December, the two parties reached a new agreement on a guilty plea. But that proposal was rejected by a Texan court last month. So it remains to be seen whether this deal will be approved.