A federal judge in Texas set the June trial date for a long-standing US government conspiracy case against Boeing against misleading regulators over the 737 largest jet liner before two planes crashed and 346 people died.
US District Judge Reed O’Connor did not explain why he decided to file a lawsuit for trial in a scheduling order issued Tuesday. Attorneys for the Aerospace Company and the Department of Justice have spent months trying to renegotiate a July 2024 judicial agreement that demanded Boeing plead guilty to a single felony charge.
The judge refused the transaction in December and said the diversity, inclusion and equity policies that the Department of Justice had in place at the time could affect the choice of monitors to oversee the company’s compliance with the terms of the proposed sentence.
Since then, O’Connor has extended the deadline for both parties three times to report how it will proceed. His latest extension, granted earlier this month, gave him the idea of ”giving not to bring any potential resolutions to trial in this case” until April 11th.
The judge revoked the remaining time on Tuesday’s order. This laid out the timeline for the lawsuit leading up to the June 23rd trial in Fort Worth.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the judge’s actions. Boeing’s statement shed no light on the state of negotiations.
“As mentioned in the parties’ recent filings, Boeing and the Department of Justice continue to engage in a sincere discussion about proper resolution of this issue,” the company said.
The transaction the judge refused to approve would have avoided a criminal trial by allowing Boeing to admit that he had conspiracy to fraudulent Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved the 737 Max minimum pilot training requirements nearly a decade ago. More intensive training in flight simulators increased the cost of airlines operating new plane models of the time.
The development and certification of what became Boeing’s bestselling passenger plane became a fierce focus for safety investigators after two of the largest planes crashed five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
In response to criticism of the plea deal from the victims’ families last year, prosecutors said there was no evidence to assert that Boeing’s deception played a role in the crash. Prosecutors told O’Connor that the conspiracy to commit fraud is the most difficult thing Boeing can prove.
O’Connor did not object to his ruling against the judicial agreement against the sentence that Boeing faced in December. Requirement to invest $455 million in compliance and safety programs. And external surveillance during three years of probation.
Instead, the judge focused negative reviews on the process of selecting outsiders to look at Boeing’s actions to prevent fraud. He expressed particular concern that the agreement “requires parties to consider race when hiring independent monitors.” In line with our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the sector (justice) division.”
“It is the greatest interest of justice that the public is convinced that this monitor choice will be based solely on capabilities. The efforts of the parties’ DEI only undermine this confidence in the government and Boeing’s ethics and anti-disability efforts,” writes O’Connor.
President Donald Trump of the executive order was signed in the first week of his second term.
Trump’s appointment also means that Justice Department leaders have changed since federal prosecutors decided to pursue a lawsuit against Boeing last year.
Boeing only agreed to the plea deal after the Justice Department found last year that it violated a 2021 agreement that the company protected against criminal prosecution with the same fraud accusations.
Government officials began reconsidering the incident after door plug panels were blown away at the Alaska Airlines 737 during the flight in January 2024. The incident renewed concerns about quality and safety manufacturing at Boeing and placed the company under intense scrutiny by regulators and lawmakers.
Boeing’s lawyers said last year that if a plea agreement is denied, the company will challenge the Justice Department’s findings violated its postponed booking agreement. O’Connor helped Boeing’s position by writing in his December decision that it was not clear what the company did to violate the 2021 deal.
Original issue: March 25th, 2025, 5:52pm EDT
