The United States has accepted a $400 million Boeing 747 from Qatar, intended to join the Air Force One fleet. This gift from the Qatari royal family has sparked criticism, particularly from some of President Trump's supporters.
Boeing has a new reform-minded leader after years of turmoil, a resolved machinists strike and a new contract to deliver up to 210 widebody aircraft to Qatar Airways.
The aircraft manufacturer鈥檚 future is looking up, despite uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump鈥檚 on-again, off-again tariff gambit.
But not all is forgiven. A grim shadow over the company remains: the two 737 MAX8 crashes that killed a total of 346 people and the subsequent internal workings exposed during the investigation.
The victims鈥 families continue to bear the pain of loss, the ache for the truth. The burden is great, exacerbated by the roller coaster of emotion with each twist and turn of the case. Their hopes for justice were recently crushed when the U.S. Department of Justice lawyers indicated criminal fraud charges against the company would be dropped. The trial was to begin June 23.
Instead of going to court, the company would be asked to pay an additional $444.5 million into a fund divided evenly per crash victim.聽
The trial was set after a judge rejected the second agreement the Justice Department made with Boeing to avoid charges. The first was discarded after the federal government determined Boeing had violated the terms.
Families and their lawyers denounced the possibility, saying "it feels like a bribe.鈥
Meanwhile, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg signed a $96 billion contract recently in Doha with President Donald Trump looking on.
If the Justice Department proceeds with this plan, it will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of the victims鈥 families and the flying public. Much work still needs to be done to demonstrate that Boeing is serious about restoring its once-sterling reputation for excellence and safety.
