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A grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport.
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Justice Department and Boeing are close to a deal that would allow the aerospace giant to avoid pleading guilty or a trial in a criminal case related to two deadly crashes of its 737 Max passenger jet, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
Boeing agreed to plead guilty in the case last summer in a deal with the Justice Department after the Biden administration found earlier that year that the company violated a 2021 agreement tied to the crashes. A judge rejected that plea deal last year, citing concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion, and opened the possibility that Boeing could face trial.
The fraud charge stems from Boeing’s development of the 737 Max. The U.S. had accused Boeing of misleading regulators about its inclusion of a flight-control system on the Max that was later implicated in the two crashes.
Boeing Co. 737 Max fuselages at the company’s manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, US, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A final, nonprosecution agreement hasn’t been reached yet, said the person, who was speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately comment, and Boeing declined to comment on the matter.
Under the new agreement, Boeing could pay family members of victims of the two Max crashes. In total, the two crashes of the bestselling Boeing jet killed all 346 people on board the planes.
The new tentative agreement, which was reported earlier Friday by Reuters, would mean Boeing wouldn’t be labeled a felon. That label could have come with restrictions on defense contractor work.
Boeing is the country’s biggest exporter and, in addition to making commercial jetliners, it’s a major defense contractor. The Trump administration recently awarded the company a multibillion-dollar contract to build a next-generation fighter jet.
