Boeing, officially accused on Thursday of having misled authorities during the 737 MAX approval process, admitted responsibility and agreed to pay more than $ 2.5 billion to settle certain lawsuits: a criminal fine of 243, 6 million in the United States, 1.77 billion in compensation to airlines and 500 million for a fund intended to compensate the relatives of the victims of the two accidents in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing, officially accused on Thursday of misleading authorities during the 737 MAX approval process, admitted responsibility and agreed to pay more than $ 2.5 billion to settle certain lawsuits.

This resolution allows the manufacturer to dispel a little more the clouds that have gathered over its star aircraft, grounded for 20 months after two accidents that killed 346 people, before being again authorized to fly in certain countries at the end of 2020.

The aeronautic giant has agreed to pay the United States a criminal fine of 243.6 million, as well as 1.77 billion in compensation to the airlines that ordered the 737 MAX and 500 million for a fund intended to compensate relatives of the victims of the accidents of Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019. "Boeing employees preferred profit to franchise by hiding important information from the FAA (the American aviation authority, Editor's note) concerning the use of his 737 MAX aircraft and trying to cover up their deception, "Justice Department official David Burns said in a statement.

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Boeing admitted that two of its employees had misled a group within the FAA to prepare pilot training for the aircraft about the MCAS flight software, implicated in the two crashes.

The documents subsequently issued by the aviation agency therefore did not contain essential information about this software, which was therefore not included in the company manuals.

It was only after the first crash, in October 2018, that the FAA learned of "key details" about MCAS.

The agency has been criticized for its oversight of Boeing, which some consider too lax.

Under the terms of the agreement, which formally accuses Boeing of conspiring to commit fraud, the group has agreed to continue to cooperate with the authorities on all ongoing or future investigations and to honor certain commitments.

The ministry will lift the lawsuits in three years if Boeing meets all of its obligations.

On the other hand, he did not consider it necessary to impose an independent inspector on the company.

"We have failed"

Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said the deal was "the right thing to do."

This resolution "allows us to appropriately recognize that we have failed in our values ​​and our expectations," he stressed in a note to employees.

It "really reminds us of the importance of our obligation to be transparent towards regulators and the consequences our company can face if one of us does not meet these expectations."

The group, which has already put money aside to deal with the consequences of the two fatal accidents, also said it spent an additional charge of $ 743.6 million in its accounts.

With this agreement, the horizon brightens a little more for Boeing, which has suffered heavily from the 737 MAX crisis, its cash cow.

In December, Brazilian company Gol became the first in the world to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service on a smooth commercial flight between Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.

The aircraft also resumed service in the United States under the colors of American Airlines last week.

Difficulties remain however, the group having suffered numerous cancellations of orders from airlines jostled first by the long immobilization of the aircraft and then by the drop in air traffic observed since the start of the pandemic. 

Some families of victims are also not planning to drop their cases, a representative of their lawyer told AFP.

For Zipporah Kuria, who lost his father in the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX, the deal was "a slap on the wrist."

"If we were really seeking justice, the people responsible at Boeing should not retire or resign with bonuses - they should be held criminally responsible for their actions," she said in a message.