Aircraft
Boeing To Pay $2.5 billion in Penalties for 737 Max Misdeeds
U.S. Justice Department finds Boeing employees deceived the FAA about changes to the 737 Max’s flight control system.
Boeing 737 Max jets sit in storage in Moses Lake, Washington, in October 2019. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)
Boeing 737 Max jets sit in storage in Moses Lake, Washington, in October 2019. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)

Boeing has agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay more than $2.5 billion in penalties to resolve a criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) in connection with its assessment of the 737 Max. Under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, the penalties consist of a criminal monetary penalty of $243.6 million, compensation payments to Boeing’s 737 Max airline customers of $1.77 billion, and the establishment of a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate the heirs, relatives, and legal beneficiaries of the 346 passengers who died in the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.