Boeing Begins Paying Victims' Families $944.5 Million Settlement
Boeing has begun paying victims of the two deadly 737 MAX crashes under a multibillion-dollar settlement. The company will pay $87.3 million to 32 Kenyan families who lost relatives in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 disaster, with each family receiving an average of $2.73 million (Sh353.4 million) from the criminal case settlement.
The payments mark a major milestone in the long-running fight for accountability following the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The two disasters killed all 346 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with Kenya being one of the countries hardest hit by the crash.
Boeing is required to deposit $444.5 million (Sh57.5 billion) into a Compensation Fund Escrow Account established by the administrators, which will be distributed pro rata among the eligible beneficiaries of the 346 victims. The structure ensures that Boeing cannot recover unclaimed money and that no money from the fund will be returned to the company.
The compensation process has been reinforced by a new protocol governing the distribution of the separate $444.5 million fund, which is intended to compensate the eligible families, next of kin, heirs, and other beneficiaries of all 346 victims of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes.