A federal judge has set a trial date in the ongoing criminal fraud case against Boeing stemming from two fatal 737 MAX crashes six years ago.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on Tuesday set a trial date, potentially changing the course of the prosecution after several months of behind-the-scenes discussions between Boeing and the Justice Department.

After the crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed a total of 346 people, the Justice Department charged Boeing with fraud related to allegations that the company intentionally misled safety regulators about a new software system on the MAX.

Boeing agreed to plead guilty in July, part of a plea deal with the Justice Department, but O’Connor rejected the deal in December. That sent Boeing and the Justice Department back to discussions.

O’Connor had set an April 11 deadline for Boeing and the Justice Department to provide an “update on how they plan to proceed.”

But on Tuesday he vacated that deadline and set a trial for June 23 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The families who lost loved ones in the MAX crashes welcomed the news of a trial on Tuesday. They have pushed through this whole process for the Justice Department to do more to hold Boeing accountable and hope a trial could lead to that result.

“We are pleased to see Judge O’Connor set this case for trial,” said Sanjiv Singh, an attorney who is representing 16 families who lost loved ones in the first crash in Indonesia in 2018. “We hope that the Justice Department will agree that a corporate entity which killed hundreds of people and endangered millions of lives should be held accountable.”

A Boeing spokesperson said Tuesday the company and the Justice Department “continue to be engaged in good faith discussions regarding an appropriate resolution of this matter.”

_____

©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.