Boeing has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) that could allow the aerospace giant to avoid criminal prosecution for defrauding aviation regulators over the safety of its 737 Max aircraft. The deal, revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, remains subject to approval by a federal judge.
The agreement allows Boeing to withdraw its earlier guilty plea to a single charge of fraud, a move that has deeply angered families of the 346 victims killed in two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. As part of the new terms, Boeing will pay $444.5 million in compensation to the victims’ families, but the legal battle is far from over.
The families are actively opposing the deal in court, and attorneys are scheduled to submit arguments to U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor by June 18. Boeing and the Justice Department will then have one week to respond. The outcome hinges on O’Connor, who has previously taken a hard line in the case. In 2022, he ruled that the families legally qualify as crime victims and, in December 2024, rejected a prior plea agreement due to concerns over court oversight and the inclusion of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) provision.
If Judge O’Connor approves the new deal, it would conclude one of the Justice Department’s most high-profile and controversial corporate prosecutions in recent years. The case has dogged Boeing’s efforts to recover its reputation and financial stability following the twin disasters.
The crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019 led to a global grounding of the 737 Max fleet. Investigators linked both incidents to a flawed flight control software system—known as MCAS—which pushed the aircraft’s nose downward repeatedly based on erroneous sensor data.
According to the Financial Times, Boeing had originally agreed to a deferred prosecution deal in 2021, which included a $2.5 billion settlement and the condition that Boeing implement a compliance program and fully cooperate with authorities over a three-year period.
That arrangement was expected to expire in early 2024, but a dramatic safety lapse derailed the agreement. In January 2024, a door panel on a 737 Max aircraft detached mid-flight, reviving scrutiny over Boeing’s manufacturing practices and prompting the DoJ to pursue the case once again.
Now, Boeing and federal prosecutors are hoping the new deal—finalized last week—will resolve the matter, but victim families and their legal representatives argue it falls far short of justice. Critics have lambasted the DoJ’s willingness to strike a deal with a company they say knowingly misled the Federal Aviation Administration about safety risks.
The case has become a flashpoint for corporate accountability in the U.S., with aviation safety experts and lawmakers closely watching how the judiciary handles one of the most consequential aerospace failures in modern history.
