© Elaine Thompson/APBoeing 737 MAX jet
an agreement that disgraces the storied US planemaker as a felon but avoids a bruising courtroom confrontation as it tries to rebound from multiple crises.
Under the agreement with US prosecutors,
Boeing faces a criminal fine of as much as $487.2 million — the maximum allowed by law — though the actual amount will be determined by a judge, according to the Justice Department. The DOJ asked the judge to
credit Boeing for the prior fine it paid, which would bring the new penalty down to $243.6 million, if approved.
The company will install a corporate monitor and be required to spend at least $455 million to bolster its compliance and safety programs over the next three years as part of the deal, which requires court approval. It would also be subject to a period of court-supervised probation.
The guilty plea marks a low point in the company's century-long history after years of turmoil sparked by two crashes of its 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The agreement also has the potential to
complicate Boeing's interaction with the government as a major defense contractor and builder of the presidential aircraft, though the company is likely to seek a waiver or turnaround that allows it to keep doing business in those areas.
Comment: For those farms that the establishment can't immediately throw out of business with nefarious green agenda or biohazard restrictions, they will, instead, relatively quietly, steadily make it nigh on impossible to make a profit through farming. A similar reduction in egg producers was reported to have happened in the UK last year as supermarket's refused to pay farmers enough to even cover the cost of production.
Taken together, with the increase in extreme weather events, alongside the strained supply chain, it's no wonder that this year the EU were wargaming the likelihood of severe food shortages: