"FLYING COFFIN MAKER" BOEING TO PAY $2.5 BILLION FOR SAFETY LIES

US jet company Boeing, which has a long track record of skimping on safety standards, is being hit with a massive $2.5 billion fine for lying to safety regulators about its 737 Max aircraft. After two deadly crashes that grounded all 737 Max aircraft, this was nicknamed "The Flying Coffin." 

As reported by Business Standard:

Boeing will pay USD 2.5 billion to settle a Justice Department investigation and admit that employees misled regulators about the safety of its 737 Max aircraft, which suffered two deadly crashes shortly after entering airline service.

The government and the company said Thursday that the settlement includes money for the crash victims' families, airline customers and a fine. Prosecutors said Boeing employees gave misleading statements and half-truths about safety issues with the plane to the Federal Aviation Administration, then covered up their actions.

"Boeing's employees chose the path of profit over candor," said David Burns, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division.

On Oct 29, 2018, a 737 Max operated by Indonesia's Lion Air plunged straight into the Java Sea, then on March 10, 2019, another Max operated by Ethiopian Airlines plummeted straight into a field. The two accidents killed a combined total of 346. 

Oddly none of the Boeing staff reported as giving "misleading statements and half-truths about safety issues" and "covering up their actions" is facing jail time. Could that be because Boeing takes care to always give a lot of money in bribes donations to America's political elites?

In contrast to rival plane maker Airbus, Boeing literally showers cash on US politicians. 

According to analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, Boeing pumped $1.5 million in campaign contributions into federal House and Senate candidates across the country in the 2016 election cycle.

For example, in Washington State where much of the company's manufacturing is based, Boeing's PAC donated $10,000 each to Democrats Suzan DelBene (1st District), Dennis Heck (10th District) and Adam Smith (9th District). Republicans Dan Newhouse (4th District) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (3rd District) received $9,000 and $6,000 each. Democrats Derek Kilmer (6th District) and Rick Larsen (2nd District) received $8,000 each. 

The lower GOP contributions were to punish Republican legislators for trying to sink the Export-Import Bank, a U.S. government lender that offers low-interest loans to buyers of Boeing jets, effectively the US taxpayer subsidizing companies to buy Boeing's poor quality aircraft.

Airbus, by contrast, raised and donated only $174,000 through its PAC during the same period, a little over 10% of the political slush funds employed by Boeing.

Boeing donates even bigger money to so-called "social justice" organisations that discriminate against one racial group in particular, namely Whites. In 2020, the company paid out more than $10 million in race-centered spending that excludes Whites.

With Boeing badly hit by the Covid virus and the associated hysteria, this $2.5 billion fine is a major blow. It will lead to a falling share price, lay-offs, and possibly a drop in its pay-outs to politicians. Alternatively, it might lead to even more money being spent on legislators in the hope of keeping them sweet.