The US Department of Justice said it had made "significant progress" in reaching a guilty plea agreement with Boeing (BA.US).
On July 18, the US Department of Justice said it had made "significant progress" in reaching a final guilty plea agreement with Boeing (BA.US), and was due to file the agreement with a federal district court on July 24.
The US Department of Justice originally planned to file the guilty plea agreement and supporting documents alleging that Boeing violated the deferred prosecution agreement on July 19, but decided to delay the filing until after July 24. The department did not provide details on the "significant progress".
Boeing and the US Department of Justice reached a "principled agreement" in principle in early July on two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019. The crashes led to a 20-month grounding of the company's most popular aircraft, resulting in losses of more than $20bn.
Boeing admitted to "conspiring to defraud the United States" in the MAX certification process, agreed to pay a $2.436bn fine equal to the amount of the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, and agreed to spend at least $455m over the next three years on compliance improvements.
The agreement also requires the appointment of an independent monitor for three years, who will report to the public annually on Boeing's progress in implementing the changes, which will be considered "probation" for Boeing.
The US Department of Justice also found that Boeing had violated the terms of the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement, which was in place for three years, in May this year. The reasons included a January incident in which a 737 MAX aircraft lost an engine in flight and had to make an emergency landing.
Boeing is also facing a separate criminal investigation into the Alaska crash, which did not result in any serious injuries, and will also be subject to a two-day National Transportation Safety Board hearing next month.