Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud charge, avoids trial

Boeing has agreed to a plea deal to avoid a trial over a criminal fraud trial the company was facing. The trial would have levied allegations of criminal fraud against the company – but by pleading guilty, Boeing has avoided going to trial. The threat of a trial came from Boeing violating its $2.5 billion settlement agreement, following two serious crashes in 2019. The two crashes, one in October 2018 involving Indonesia’s Lion Air and another a month later involving Ethiopian Airlines, killed the 346 people on board both flights. Boeing agreed to pay $2.1 billion in a 2021 deferred