Boeing Is Getting A Sweetheart Deal On Safety From The Feds

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

The Department of Justice finalized the terms of Boeing’s plea deal on Wednesday. The aircraft manufacturer pleaded guilty to fraud for misleading federal regulators who evaluated the 737 Max before its two crashes in 2018 and 2019. Along with a $243.6 million fine, the DOJ is requiring a $455 million investment into its compliance, quality, and safety programs. However, Boeing will have the right to veto the government’s choices for an independent compliance monitor to oversee… Boeing.

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The DOJ will select six candidates for the safety monitor position within the next 90 days. Boeing can object to a potential monitor if the manufacturer “believes in good faith” that the candidate doesn’t meet the requirements, according to Newsweek. It’s difficult to argue that Boeing isn’t getting off lightly when it is being given this degree of leeway. Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the crash victims’ families, told the AP:

“The plea has all the problems in it that the families feared it would have. We will file a strong objection to the preferential and sweetheart treatment Boeing is receiving.”

The victims’ families demanded that the government levy an unprecedented $25 billion fine against Boeing. Ultimately, the manufacturer will only have to pay a fraction of the proposed punishment. Cassell said in May that “Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history.” The two Boeing 737 Max crashes killed 346 people and were attributed to the plane’s MCAS stabilization feature. Boeing misled regulators about how much training was necessary for pilots to operate and be equipped with MCAS.

It should be noted that this plea deal doesn’t absolve Boeing from potential ligation concerning the door plug blow-out on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max. The January incident was pivotal in deeming that the plane manufacturer violated the terms of the initial $2.5 billion 737 Max settlement with the DOJ.