Why don't they just admit it and get on with fixing their problems?!
That is a very good question indeed.
With respect, it's not. Its a very naiive question.
First of all they very clearly
are 'getting on with fixing their problems'. What on earth would make anyone dream otherewise?
But more to the point,
everything Boeing says and everything they do is governed by lawyers. Every word they utter in public is scrutinised by lawyers before it is spoken or printed. Every action or modification or design approval is swarmend over by lawyers because of the insane levels of liability involved.
A moment's thought would tell you that Boeing
cannot admit fault even if it wanted to, because that would render them exposed to
unlimited liability. They know they are in for reparations of epic proportions but they must try to limit them out of simple fiancial survival.
In the past Boeing have, I'm told, not changed ambiguous or unclear wording in manuals
because doing so would be a legal admission of fault in the original wording, and render them liable post-correction had anyone ever been damaged by the original! That is the sort of legal idiocy Boeing are up against, and I daresay they'd love to be more open - as any decent person would - were they able to. The point is they simply cannot be as open as some would wish, and though their reticence may not be entirely down to this aspect I have no doubt that a great part of it is which leads to statements that appear mealy-mouthed. You have the shysters - and a grossly overdeveloped liability-obsessed legal system - to thank for that.