Will Boeing get away on the MAX crashes? |

Boeing, which had previously agreed to plead guilty to fraud in negotiations with the Department of Justice, appears to be taking advantage of the new administration. The industry rumor mill suggests that the company is attempting to change its plea to not guilty, and therefore not become a “corporate felon” and subject to potential civil liabilities and government contract restrictions. The evidence that came out during the investigation of the crashes, including damning internal e-mails from the company, indicate that company engineers clearly intended to mislead the FAA regarding a single point of failure on the 737 MAX during certification. Rather than play by the rules, which they knew pretty well, several individuals in the company purposefully lied to the FAA regarding the severity and impact of the MCAS system, which was the major contributing factor to the two fatal crashes. Three hundred forty-six people died as a result. The families of the crash victims have been seeking justice for more than six years, since the crashes in 2018 and 2019. Unfortunately, the legal process has slowed to a crawl, with multiple revisions of what was called a “sweetheart” plea deal between the Department of Justice and Boeing. As that deal evolved, particularly after another “quality escape” and near crash of a MAX in 2024 that breached an earlier deal, Boeing and the DOJ had agreed to a guilty plea in exchange for minimal sanctions. That deal was unacceptable to the judge, who overheared the case, and renegotiations have been in process over the last few months. Apparently, the Trump administration may favor allowing Boeing to change its plea from guilty to not guilty, which could lead to a different settlement agreement outcome, even more favorable than their sweetheart deal. Why is that? First, the company is the largest single exporter in the US and a key element in our trade balance. Sanctions against Boeing could risk lower exports and increase the imbalance of trade. Second, the company knows how to play the game with a transactional administration. They won the F-47, appropriately named for the 47th President, and did make a $1 million contribution to the Trump Inauguration. Suddenly, the DOJ might decide to “go easy”? When I go to the fish market, things smell fishy. So does this. Boeing’s actions resulted in 346 deaths. There needs to be proper accountability for their fraudulent actions.

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