The newspaper, citing several unnamed sources, said the aviation giant was hoping for “more lenient treatment” from the justice department under President Donald Trump, whose administration is reviewing several unresolved criminal cases.

Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to fraud after the justice department found the company failed to improve its compliance and ethics programme, in breach of a deferred prosecution agreement in the wake of the 2018 and 2019 MAX crashes.

That deal was concluded in January 2021 to address the disasters, in which 346 people were killed in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

But in December a judge in Texas rejected the 2024 settlement over apparent flaws in the selection process for a monitor to ensure Boeing’s compliance, sending the company and the government back to square one.

“Now Boeing stands to benefit from fresh eyes at Trump’s justice department, which is inclined to at least modify parts of the agreement,” the Wall Street Journal wrote, citing sources.

“Allowing Boeing to rescind its plea agreement, or lightening the company’s punishment, would mark one of the most prominent examples of the Trump administration’s lighter-touch approach to some white-collar enforcement,” it added.

Boeing and the US justice department did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.