Boeing will have to pay $200 million due to public statements about the safety of the airliners

Boeing 737 MAX is the latest series of the concern's aircraft. They started operating in October 2017. A year later, the first disaster occurred when the liner of the Indonesian airline Lion Air in October 2018 fell into the sea shortly after departure, killing 189 people. In March 2019, another 737 MAX crashed in Ethiopia, killing 157 people. After that, Boeing 737 MAX flights were suspended.

“There are no words to describe the tragic loss of life caused by these two air crashes”, - said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found public statements by the company and Muilenburg about the safety of the 737 MAX and the aircraft's lack of problems with the flight control function (maneuvering performance enhancement system - MCAS) misleading investors.

During the investigation, the commission's experts found that after the first tragedy, Boeing and Muilenburg were aware that MCAS created an ongoing safety problem for aircraft, but publicly stated the opposite. After the second crash, they said that there were no errors or gaps in the liner's certification process regarding MCAS.

In 2019, the company laid off Muilenberg. It came after he spoke about when regulators would allow planes to fly again. The comments soured the aircraft manufacturer's relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In November 2020, the FAA reversed the 737 MAX flight ban, allowing them to return to the skies after patching the aircraft's systems.