Boeing also must hire an independent monitor for three years to oversee those improvements.
A court still needs to sign off on the plea agreement.
Pleading guilty creates business challenges for Boeing.
Companies with felony convictions can be suspended or barred as defense contractors.
Boeing is expected to seek a waiver from that consequence.
The company was awarded Defense Department contracts last year valued at $22.8 billion, according to federal data.
Also as part of the plea agreement, Boeings board of directors agreed to meet with victims family members.
The plea deal falls short of what families of the MAX crash victims had wanted.
An earlier attempt to prosecute a Boeing employee over the allegations failed at trial.
The decision was disclosed in a filing by the Justice Department in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas.
Prosecutors asked the court to schedule a hearing in July on the plea agreement.
The answer, flat out, is no.
Is anybody going to jail over this?
Its a safety net that allows them to avoid the full brunt of legal scrutiny.
It’s a bulletproof vest that shields them from further lawsuits and more whistleblowers coming forward to testify.
(And more of them to silence.)
Yah, good stuff.
By agreeing to a plea deal, Boeing has effectively closed the door on discovery.
(AKA the process where both sides must disclose all relevant information.
What a crock of shit.
ALL of this pales in comparison to the gravity of the crime.
Its a mere slap on the wrist for a company that generated $66 billion in revenue last year.
(Sidebar- is $244 million even the price Boeing charges for a 747?)
This all does more than just protect Boeing from harsher penalties.
It provides them with a bulletproof vest against true accountability.
The plea deal allows Boeing to avoid the harsher consequences that a trial and potential conviction would bring.
Instead, they received a deal that falls woefully short of real justice.
Like right after they died?
Nothing shows you care like being forced by the courts to do it.
