'Meets the requirement
More and more, our society is getting by on "meets the requirement". For passengers, the requirement is getting from A to B safely. 'Got there alive.... met the requirement (oh, and look at how little I spent on the ticket!!!). Got there with a reserve of safety, comfort, on time, with back up options - probably exceeded the requirement (or at least what they were willing to pay). Now, if you asked the passenger if they expected the reserve of safety, of course they would say yes, but are they requiring it, and willing to pay for it?
Passengers are taxpayers, and as such, the regulator works for them. Passengers (and taxpayers in general) expect the regulator to act on their behalf, with its much more in depth understanding of aircraft, to require excess safety on their behalf. But, those same passengers are demanding to pay less tax, and lower airfares, so how much excess are they requiring (based upon what they're willing to pay for)?
I think that passengers sharply wised up in early March, within days, I had two family friends inquire of my thoughts of them flying in a Max 8. Passenger taxpayers are slowly learning to take some interest in their traveling safety. Media, and social media are having a beneficial effect in that learning process. The commerce of commercial aviation will be how the customer demands, and pays for - both the airline, and the regulator. When Boeing presents the Max 8 back for service, it'll have a hard look by the regulators, on behalf of their clients (the taxpayers). Some things were missed during a certification process at an earlier stage, the regulators will take more interest in safety (and covering their butts). This won't be the last time something is missed during certification, but the bar has been reset toward safety this time!
Pilots are also reminded to take more interest in understanding the systems of the aircraft. Yes, this case seems to be nearly a situation of concealing a system from the pilots, but still, pilots can ask more, ask for more training, and discuss amongst themselves to mentor more understanding, and perhaps assume less.
These two crashes have been a very sad wake up call. But, the public awareness should make it a little easier for an airline to charge the fair cost of a ticket to pay a properly trained crew, flying a safely designed and tested aircraft. And, the public is also seeing the value in paying their taxes, so the regulators can do their job properly, and perhaps not delegate so much of it to the staff of the aircraft manufacturer with little oversight.