Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has admitted to knowingly misleading regulators about problems with its 737 MAX planes, which were implicated in two fatal crashes. The company has agreed to pay an additional fine of $244 million.
According to court documents cited by The Wall Street Journal, this development threatens Boeing’s business, with its stock price having already dropped 29% since the beginning of this year.
Boeing’s admission is part of a deal previously proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Without this agreement, the company would have faced renewed legal proceedings.
In addition to the fine, Boeing will be required to hire a consultant to monitor its compliance with aviation regulations.
The Wall Street Journal notes that this admission of guilt for a serious crime could pose problems for Boeing’s business, particularly endangering its status as a contractor for the U.S. federal government. Last year, the company received $22.8 billion in contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sources from The Wall Street Journal emphasize that Boeing and the Pentagon are seeking ways to resolve this issue.
To recap, flights of Boeing 737 MAX planes were suspended in 2019 following two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which resulted in the deaths of 346 people. A Boeing 737 MAX operated by Lion Air crashed on October 29, 2018, shortly after taking off from Jakarta, and another of the same model from Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019.
