Boeing bears the brunt of crisis with criminal fraud charge and now Spirit deal

Six months after a fuselage blowout threw Boeing Co. into crisis, the full weight of the legal and financial fallout from the near-catastrophic accident is bearing down on the embattled US plane maker. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing says to buy subcontractor Spirit for $4.7 billion The US Justice Department plans to charge Boeing with criminal fraud after finding the company violated a 2021 deferred-prosecution agreement tied to two previous, fatal crashes, Bloomberg News reported late on Sunday. Just hours later, Boeing announced a plan to buy back Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., a supplier it spun off two decades ago, for $4.7 billion in a bid to improve manufacturing. It also brings a longtime former Boeing leader back to the company as directors hunt for a new leader: Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan was a longtime Boeing executive steeped in factory operations, known for helping turn around the 787 Dreamliner program after a troubled start. The deal struck after months of negotiations comes as Boeing approaches another milestone, a settlement with the US Justice Department that would potentially involve pleading guilty to criminal fraud in relation to two crashes involving the 737 Max aircraft that occurred in rapid succession in 2018 and 2019.