After years of legal maneuvering, the company agreed to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge in July 2024 in order to avoid a criminal trial. Under the plea bargain’s terms, Boeing would pay nearly $2.5 billion to airlines, families of crash victims, and the government, plus accept three years of monitoring from an independent safety consultant. That agreement was thrown out by a federal judge in December, and a trial date was set for June 2025.

Two weeks later, the DOJ agreed to drop the charges against Boeing completely. Instead of pleading guilty, Boeing would now just be liable for a reduced monetary penalty of around $1.2 billion: $235 million in new fines, plus $445 million into a fund for the families of the 737 MAX crash victims. It would also have to invest $455 million to enhance its “compliance and safety programs,” part of which would pay for an “independent compliance consultant” for two years of oversight. It avoided a felony charge, and more importantly, it was allowed to continue self-auditing its own products.