[Source: BBC]
Boeing has agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle US criminal charges that it hid information from safety officials about the design of its 737 Max planes.
The US Justice Department said the firm chose “profit over candour”, impeding oversight of the planes, which were involved in two deadly crashes.
About $500m will go to families of the 346 people killed in the tragedies.
Boeing said the agreement acknowledged how the firm “fell short”.
Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said: “I firmly believe that entering into this resolution is the right thing for us to do—a step that appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations.”
This resolution is a serious reminder to all of us of how critical our obligation of transparency to regulators is, and the consequences that our company can face if any one of us falls short of those expectations.”
Of the total penalty, the majority – $1.77bn – is due to go the firm’s airline customers, who were affected by the subsequent grounding of the planes.
