A federal judge has again granted Boeing and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) another four weeks to hammer out the terms of a possible guilty plea to fraud charges, but attorneys for crash victims are warning they will challenge any additional requests for extensions.
The US manufacturer and the government have been negotiating a revised guilty plea since Judge Reed O’Connor with US District Court for the Northern District of Texas rejected their previous plea deal in December.
Boeing had pleaded guilty last year to charges that it defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during certification of the 737 Max. The DOJ said the company failed to inform the FAA about critical aspects of the jet’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. That system contributed to two crashes that killed 346 people.
In a 14 March order, Judge O’Connor granted a request by Boeing and the DOJ to extend to 11 April a deadline by which they must update the court about their negotiations of a revised plea agreement.
It was the third roughly one-month extension approved by the judge, with Boeing and the government having argued for more time as they work with new leadership at the DOJ following the inauguration of President Trump.
Attorneys representing families of those killed by the crashes have repeatedly criticised Boeing’s initial plea agreement for failing to recognise the crash victims.
While those attorneys agreed to support the latest extension, they intend to fight any further requests by Boeing or the DOJ for more time to negotiate.
“The parties have had nearly 10 months to report to the court how they wish to proceed on appropriate arrangements for Boeing to plead guilty,” the families’ attorneys say in a 14 March court filing. “But at some point, delays become unreasonable. The families hereby give notice that any further delay in negotiating a plea agreement beyond April 11, 2025, is, in their view, presumptively unreasonable.”
