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CEO hopes for swift resolution in DOJ discussions

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Boeing ( BA ) faces June trial if no new deal

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Sen. Cantwell questions Boeing's ( BA ) stance on independent

monitor

(Adds more comments from Boeing ( BA ), senator)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) is in

discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice to reach a

revised plea agreement in a criminal fraud case stemming from

the planemaker's alleged misrepresentations to regulators about

a key system on the 737 MAX, company CEO Kelly Ortberg said on

Wednesday.

Ortberg said at a Senate hearing Boeing ( BA ) is in discussions

with the Justice Department to come up with an alternate

agreement after the initial deal was not accepted by a judge.

"I want this resolved as fast as anybody," Ortberg said.

"Hopefully, we'll have a new agreement here soon."

In July, Boeing ( BA ) agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud

conspiracy charge after two fatal 737 MAX crashes and to pay a

fine of up to $487.2 million. A judge set a June 23 trial date

if no final agreement is reached.

Boeing's ( BA ) plea deal struck last year included spending $455

million to improve safety and compliance practices over three

years of court-supervised probation as well as supervision by an

independent monitor for three years.

Relatives of the victims of the two 737 MAX crashes,

which occurred in 2018 and 2019 and killed 346 people, have

called the plea agreement a "sweetheart" deal that failed to

adequately hold Boeing ( BA ) accountable for the deaths of their loved

ones.

An accepted plea deal would brand Boeing a convicted

felon for conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation

Administration about problematic software affecting the flight

control systems in the planes that crashed during the MAX's

certification.

In May, the DOJ found Boeing ( BA ) had violated a 2021

agreement that had shielded it from prosecution over the

crashes. Prosecutors then decided to criminally charge Boeing ( BA )

and negotiate the current plea deal.

The decision followed the January 2024 in-flight blowout

of a door panel on a new Alaska Airlines' 737 MAX 9.

Senator Maria Cantwell asked about a report that Boeing ( BA ) does

not want to face oversight of an independent corporate monitor

as part of a new plea deal.

"I don't want to prejudge what the outcome of those

discussions is going to be. I don't personally have a problem,

no," Ortberg said.