Re:The McDonnell Douglas-Boeing merger led to the 737 Max cr...
by Symmetry on Monday January 06, 2020 @03:15PM
(#21972765)
I don't think this has anything to do with airline deregulation. The FAA has really done an excellent job of managing the various airlines and it's an example I'd point to of how regulation can work correctly in that context. Mostly that's because airlines are even more interested in preventing their competitors form cutting corners that put airline crashes in the news than they are in cutting corners themselves leading to a good sort of regulatory capture.
But Boeing itself isn't one of the many airlines and is the singular US plane exporter champion. Wheras Delta, Southwest, et al want to see that the FAA isn't giving Jet Blue a pass there's mostly only Boeing to check whether Boeing is given too much of a pass and political pressure from up high is targeted at making Boeing better positioned to compete with Airbus which the FAA doesn't have jurisdiction or input from.
But Boeing itself isn't one of the many airlines and is the singular US plane exporter champion. Wheras Delta, Southwest, et al want to see that the FAA isn't giving Jet Blue a pass there's mostly only Boeing to check whether Boeing is given too much of a pass and political pressure from up high is targeted at making Boeing better positioned to compete with Airbus which the FAA doesn't have jurisdiction or input from.
So I think it's really a different situation.