How Trump Boeing left the hook for 737 holidays as a maximum

On July 18, Federal judge in Texas The final session is scheduled to be in case The United States against Boeing. After five years of litigation, the end result can only be described as a victory for Boeing – a permanent setback for those who were hoping that the company would be responsible for safety violations.

Last year, Boeing prospects looked very dark. In 2021, the Ministry of Justice accused the company A conspiracy to fraud The government is on the MCAS system on a maximum of 737, which was linked to the death of 346 people in Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian Airlines 302.freedom This story was covered for the first time in 2019.)

After years of legal maneuver, the company agreed to acknowledge guilty on the charge of conspiracy July 2024 In order to avoid criminal trial. Under the conditions of the approval deal, Boeing will pay nearly $ 2.5 billion to airlines, collision victims, and the government, as well as accepting three years of monitoring an independent safety advisor. This was an agreement Off By a federal judge in December, and The date of the experiment for the month of June 2025 has been set.

If convicted, Boeing will not be able to push his way out of trouble. As a corporate criminal, the company will have to accept it permanently more government The audit is more Each part of its work Return to an organizational model in Congress I was canceled in 2005after Punctuality by Flying and Defense Industries. according to One legal research tankand United States against Boeing He had the ability to be one of the most important provisions of compliance with companies for decades.

But then Donald Trump returned to the White House. Many of Trump’s political allies have benefited from major changes in politics under the new administration: Encryptionand Industrial pollutantsAnd Elon MuskFor example, but not limited to. Boeing spent a large amount of money in building a relationship with Trump as well. Donate One million dollars to its opening fundThe CEO of Trump was accompanied The last trip to Qatar.

Her batches came last May, when he was the head of the Department of Criminal Justice, Matthew Gallowe, Declare Enforce strategy. Galicotti directed his division to “Overboard and UNDCted Corporate and White-COLLAR ENFORM (that) weighing American business and harms interests.” Instead, he wanted to focus on a narrower group of crimes, including terrorism, tariff smuggling, drug trafficking, and “Chinese money laundering organizations”.

“Not all corporate misconduct calls for a federal criminal prosecution,” the memo mentioned. “It is important to recognize the American prosperity … companies that want to learn from their mistakes.”

Two weeks later, the Ministry of Justice agreed to Disclosure of accusations against Boeing completely. Instead of acknowledging guilt, Boeing will now be responsible for a reduced cash penalty of about $ 1.2 billion: $ 235 million in new fines, in addition to $ 445 million in a fund for the 737 Max Crash families. He will also have to invest $ 455 million to strengthen “compliance and safety programs”, part of which pays a “independent compliance consultant” for a period of two years of supervision. He avoided a felony charge, and most importantly, allowed her to continue Self -inflammatory Its private products.

Doj’s logical basis for change was that it is expected that companies “are ready to learn from their mistakes (” this is not a skill that Boeing seems to have.

The company makes a lot of mistakes. I have been afflicted with a maximum of 737 Computer errors that exceed MCAS. It was its strategy to use external sources of third -party suppliers A fixed source of manufacturing and delay errors For nearly a decade. Its lack of investment in quality control in its factories has delivered new aircraft with a variety of severe defects: Excessive gaps In the fuselage, Mineral debris near critical wire packages or Inside fuel tanksAnd the coup plugs installed without safety screws. The last case resulted in the abolition of explosive pressure Alaska Airlines 1282 In January 2024, an accident Viral Thanks to Dramatic video of passengers It is taken from inside the cabin.

But Boeing does not seem to be able to learn from his mistakes. According to Doj, Boeing has known all this and is still “(ED) to design, implement and enforce the compliance and ethics program.” Although the company has brought two new executives in the past six years, all from She promised to clean things, Boeing’s essential culture is still – the radical cause of all its technical problems.

I also wrote in my book about 737 maximum accidentsBoeing is very large and firmly entrenched as one of the world’s main aircraft makers to the point that it is functionally fortified from the hand of the invisible market. It is also Strategic and economical important It is always saved, even in the face of a global crisis such as the Covid-19s. And he makes a lot of money every year, until fines worth billions of dollars, to the point that the Ministry of Justice is ready to impose only a small amount of its annual revenues.

“Boeing has become too big to fail,” Lina Khan, former FTC president He said in a speech in 2024. “The worst quality is one of the damages that most economists expect from monopoly, because companies that face a few competition have limited incentives to improve their products.”

If the organizers do not interfere and compel change, this will continue to give priority to profits for safety-only rational option in an environment free from the result. This may be a good deal for its shareholders, but not for travelers.