Boeing is facing up to $487 million in fines as the company is expected to plead guilty to a felony charge related to the two fatal crashes of the 737 Max. The plea deal has sparked criticism from some, who are calling it a “slap on the wrist” for the company. The deal comes after Boeing admitted to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration by concealing critical information about a design flaw on the 737 Max during its certification process.
Former National Transportation Safety Board managing director and current CNN contributor Peter Goeltz described the deal as not tough, questioning whether the fine of $487 million would make a significant impact on a company that reported record revenue of $101 billion before facing $32 billion in losses due to the crashes.
Boeing narrowly avoided even harsher penalties when an incident involving a 737 Max happened just days before a probationary period was set to end. In January 2021, the company had reached an agreement with the Justice Department to avoid prosecution for defrauding the FAA, but this agreement was jeopardized by the incident.
Family members of crash victims have expressed disappointment with the plea deal, calling it a “sweetheart deal” and a “miscarriage of justice.” Critics argue that Boeing should have faced larger fines, comparable to those paid by other corporations like BP and Volkswagen, which had to shell out billions in fines for criminal charges.
Despite the guilty plea, no criminal charges have been brought against individual employees or executives at Boeing. The Justice Department stated that there is no immunity for individual employees under the agreement, but so far, only one former Boeing employee has faced criminal charges and was acquitted.
While Boeing could potentially face the loss of federal government contracts due to its guilty plea, it is expected that the company will receive waivers to continue these contracts, which make up a significant portion of its revenue. The company has not faced any clawbacks for executives or board members, despite calls for greater accountability at the highest levels of the company.
