As Trump Administration Plans to Drop Criminal Charges Against Boeing, Warren and Blumenthal Call for Accountability of Boeing Executives

“Any deal between DOJ and Boeing that would allow the company and its executives to avoid accountability would be a serious mistake”
Text of Letter (PDF)
Washington, D.C. —U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling on the Department of Justice to hold Boeing and any responsible executives accountable for their role in the 2018 Lion Air and the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crashes, which killed a total of 346 passengers. Boeing had previously agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection to the plane crashes, but recent reporting suggests the company is backtracking on its agreement in an attempt to receive more lenient treatment under the Trump administration. Now, DOJ appears to be preparing to drop the pending criminal charge against Boeing, signing a non-prosecution agreement..
“We urge you not to sign a non-prosecution agreement with Boeing, and to instead hold the company, and its executives, to account for the consequences of their actions,”wrote the senators.
In both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight control software installed on the aircraft,was found to have unexpectedlyand forcefully pushed the aircraft’s nose down preceding the crashes. Boeing hasadmittedto criminally conspiring to defraud the federal government about MCAS in the course of the 737 MAX’s certification.
Even as Boeing executives have promised to improve safety at Boeing, serious safety problems have persisted at the company. Last year, a door plugblew outof Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX. Apreliminary reportindicates that the aircraft was delivered from Boeing’s factory without the key bolts that hold the door plug in place. Following the incident, an audit by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of Boeing’s 737 MAX production line found “systemic” safety issues including failures in 33 of the 89 safety tests it conducted.
“The series of safety incidents and warnings from whistleblowers and regulators all point to one troubling conclusion—that manufacturing errors and defects in Boeing aircraft are not one-offs. They appear to be a product of its broken safety culture across multiple manufacturing sites—an atmosphere that prioritizes speed of production and short-term profit over quality and safety,”wrote the senators.
Even as these safety issues persist, Boeing executives have continued to squeeze profits out of the company to pay for their exorbitant salaries. Since the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that resulted in the deaths of 346 people, Boeing executiveshave receivedover $377 million in pay and bonuses. Just days before DOJ told the court that it is considering a non-prosecution agreement, Boeing’s CEO appeared in Qatar with President Trump to announce that Qatar Airways had placed an order for 160 Boeing jets.
“Senior Boeing executives have consistently failed to take responsibility or face meaningful repercussions for wrongdoing, and the agreement that is reportedly under discussion would increase the odds that they are ever forced to do so…Any deal between DOJ and Boeing that would allow the company and its executives to avoid accountability would be a serious mistake,”said the senators.
The lawmakers demanded that the DOJ not sign the non-prosecution agreement and instead ensure that both the company and its executives are held accountable if they are found to have violated federal laws or regulations.
Senator Warren has led calls to hold Boeing accountable for its safety failures, and has pushed for greater corporate and executive accountability:
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