Boeing seeks to withdraw guilty plea in criminal case over 737 MAX crashes: Report

Boeing is attempting to withdraw an agreement to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge linked to the deadly crashes of two 737 MAX jets, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The embattled US planemaker had in July agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud regulators over flawed flight control software implicated in the crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

The plea deal would have branded Boeing a convicted felon and required it to pay a $487.2m fine, along with $455m in safety and compliance improvements over a three-year probation period.

However, a federal judge in Texas rejected the deal in December, raising concerns about a diversity and inclusion clause. Boeing and the Department of Justice (DoJ) have since discussed a revised agreement.

Donald Trump, who returned to the presidency on 20 January, now has the opportunity to influence the direction of the case. Members of his administration have signalled a tougher stance on Boeing. “We need to be tougher on Boeing. We need to be tougher on the industry,” said Steve Bradbury, the newly confirmed deputy transportation secretary.

A ‘sweetheart deal’

Victims’ families have condemned the original plea as a “sweetheart deal” that falls far short of holding Boeing accountable. The crashes– Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019– both involved the malfunction of the aircraft’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which Boeing failed to disclose to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) properly.

In 2021, the company had struck a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid criminal charges. But in May 2024, the DoJ determined that Boeing had violated the terms of that agreement, following further safety lapses, including a January incident in which a door panel blew out mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines jet.

The episode added fresh scrutiny to Boeing’s manufacturing practices and culture of safety, prompting the Justice Department to reopen the case.

Judge Reed O’Connor, who is overseeing the case in Fort Worth, Texas, has previously described Boeing’s actions as “possibly the deadliest corporate crime in US history”.

Despite the mounting pressure, Boeing continues to secure government work. On Friday, the company was awarded a major contract to develop the US Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet to date.

With inputs from Reuters