The chief executive and chief financial officer of Nigerian airline Air Peace have been charged with obstruction of justice in the USA over the alleged filing of false documents concerning an earlier investigation into fraud and money laundering. Leading the case, the US Attorney’s Office for Southern Georgia accuses Air Peace chief executive Allen Onyema of using the airline as a cover to commit fraud involving the US banking system, and of "additional crimes of fraud" in a bid to derail the authorities’ investigation. Chief financial officer Ejiroghene Eghagha is meanwhile accused of participating in the obstruction scheme and earlier bank-fraud counts. Air Peace responds in a statement that the legal issues are part of an "extended legal process" dating back several years, and that Onyema has consistently co-operated with US authorities. "We remain confident that, through due process, the truth will be revealed and our CEO and co-defendant will be exonerated," it adds in the statement, published on X. US authorities allege that between 2010 and 2018 Onyema opened several personal and business bank accounts in Atlanta, into which was transferred around $45 million from foreign sources; and that, starting in 2016, he and Eghagha used fake letters of credit to cause banks to transfer more than $20 million into Atlanta-based accounts controlled by Onyema, purportedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737s. The company that Air Peace was purportedly buying the equipment from – Springfield Aviation Company LLC, based in Georgia – was, the indictment states, owned by Onyema and managed on his behalf by a person with no connection to the aviation business, and never owned the aircraft, while the company that allegedly drafted supporting appraisals did not exist. Onyema is accused of laundering over $16 million of the proceeds of fraud by transferring it to other accounts. The authorities further allege that in May 2019, upon discovering that he was under investigation for bank fraud, Onyema, working with Eghagha, submitted a falsely-dated contract to authorities in a bid to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts. Onyema and Eghagha were indicted on November 2019 on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit-application fraud, and three counts of credit-application fraud. Additionally, Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money laundering, and Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft. On 8 October 2024, they were both charged in a superseding indictment alleging an additional count of obstruction of justice and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. "The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation," states US attorney Ryan Buchanan. Air Peace does not expect the charges to impact its day-to-day operations, stating: "The dedication and focus of our staff remain steadfast as we continue to provide you with the best aviation experience in Nigeria and beyond."

The US Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has determined that the Federal Aviation Administration's audit processes are not comprehensive enough to adequately identify key discrepancies and non-compliances within the Boeing production line. The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation had asked the office to evaluate the oversight of Boeing 737 and 787 aircraft production by the FAA, which, like the OIG, operates within the Transportation department. The OIG conducts independent audits and investigations of DOT programmes to gauge their efficiency and effectiveness. In its 9 October report, the office says the compliance and enforcement action (CEA) system used by the FAA "is not effective for tracking milestones or determining if identified issues are repetitive and thus require elevated FAA action". It adds: "FAA's approach to overseeing Boeing manufacturing and production does not use data-driven assessments to target audits, and FAA has not structured its audits to perform comprehensive assessments." The OIG has also determined that the US regulator "has not adequately ensured that Boeing and its suppliers can produce parts that conform to the approved design". Speaking on 13 June during a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to assess the FAA's oversight of aircraft manufacturing, FAA administrator Mike Whitaker reiterated that the regulator has capped 737 Max production, adding: "We will not grant any production expansion of the Max above that level until we're satisfied they can do so safely". Boeing is allowed to produce no more than 38 units per month under the production cap enacted by the FAA following the 5 January Alaska Airlines Max 9 door-plug incident.

Boeing is delaying delivery of its first 777X aircraft to 2026, concluding 767 freighter production in 2027 and reducing its workforce by approximately 10% amid an ongoing strike by its machinists and resulting work stoppage.The US airframer's chief executive Kelly Ortberg told employees in a company memo on 11 October that development challenges, a flight test pause and the work stoppage has delayed the 777X programme's timeline. Additionally, he notes that Boeing will build and deliver the remaining on-order 767 freighters and conclude production of the commercial programme in 2027. "We must also reset our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities," Ortberg says in the memo. Boeing's 10% workforce reduction during "the coming months" will include executives, managers and employees. "We know these decisions will cause difficulty for you, your families and our team, and I sincerely wish we could avoid taking them," Ortberg says. "However, the state of our business and our future recovery require tough actions." He notes that the company needs to focus its resources "on performing and innovating in the areas that are core to who we are, rather than spreading ourselves across too many efforts that can often result in underperformance and underinvestment". Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) on 12 September voted in favour of a strike, rejecting the tentative new labour agreement reached by Boeing and the union on 8 September Boeing disclosed on 8 October that it had withdrawn its latest contract offer and paused negotiations with the union representing about 33,000 machinists after a third round of talks with a federal mediator broke down. The company expects to report on 23 October third-quarter revenue of $17.8 billion. Cash and investments in marketable securities totalled $10.5 billion at the end of September.