Boeing Working With DOJ on Revised Plea Deal in 737 MAX Fraud Case, CEO Says

Boeing is in discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice to reach a revised plea agreement in a criminal fraud case stemming from the planemaker's alleged misrepresentations to regulators about a key system on the 737 MAX, company CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Wednesday.

Ortberg said at a Senate hearing Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department to come up with an alternate agreement after the initial deal was not accepted by a judge.

"I want this resolved as fast as anybody," Ortberg said. "Hopefully, we'll have a new agreement here soon."

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 MAX crashes and to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million. A judge set a June 23 trial date if no final agreement is reached.

Boeing's plea deal struck last year included spending $455 million to improve safety and compliance practices over three years of court-supervised probation as well as supervision by an independent monitor for three years.

Relatives of the victims of the two 737 MAX crashes, which occurred in 2018 and 2019 and killed 346 people, have called the plea agreement a "sweetheart" deal that failed to adequately hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of their loved ones.