Boeing Pleads Guilty: 3 Takeaways From Its Deal With the DOJ

Boeing agreed to accept a guilty plea deal from the Justice Department over charges stemming from an earlier case tied to the 737 Max, according to a court filing that was uploaded just minutes before midnight on Sunday.

In particular, Boeing is pleading guilty to a charge related to misleading the Federal Aviation Administration on certain aspects of the 737 Max 8, the aircraft that was involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. 

The plea deal is short — only eight pages — but carries a lot of significance for Boeing, which has been under intense and renewed federal scrutiny ever since the January 5 Alaska Airlines blowout incident. 

Now, Boeing will have to pay a $243.6 million criminal offense fine and invest at least $455 million into compliance and safety programs. The court overseeing the case will also have to determine a restitution amount that Boeing would owe the families of the victims of the deadly crashes. The DOJ said it plans to have the agreement finalized