The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the company to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people.

The agreement allows Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon and is a blow to families who lost relatives in the crashes.

The new agreement between Boeing and the Justice Department has outraged family members of those who died in fatal crashes of 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019.

The US Department of Justice said Friday that it struck a deal with aircraft maker Boeing to avoid prosecution of the company over two fatal crashes of the 737 Max, a Friday court filing in the case said.

Boeing and the Justice Department reached a tentative agreement for the plane maker to pay $1.1 billion to avoid prosecution for two passenger-jet crashes. The nonprosecution agreement would mean that Boeing would avoid a trial—which was scheduled to start June 23—for two crashes of its 737 MAX jets that left 346 people dead.

Boeing has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution in the case over two deadly 737 Max crashes.

The Justice Department has reached a deal with the aviation giant, whose planes killed hundreds of people in recent years.

A deal between the plane maker and the Justice Department, which was opposed by some of the families of those who died in the crashes, includes paying millions into a victims’ fund.

The dropped charges means Boeing won't be labeled a felon, which could help it win lucrative defense contracts without a waiver from the Pentagon.