Originally Posted by
OldnGrounded
Yup, that's it. The FAA doesn't trust Boeing, for the very good reason that the fallout from the MAX debacle has caused much of the world to lose trust in the FAA (see the news articles, linked above, about EASA and UAE doing their own certifications of the 777X). I'm sure the FAA would prefer not to do this, but it must -- correctly, IMHO -- see it as necessary to help preserve American aviation's position in the world.
It’s not a matter of FAA trusting or relying on Boeing, though it should be. It’s a matter of not appearing to rely fully on Boeing delegated authority.
The FAA lives in a fishbowl and most of the high level decision making has to do with appearances, not substance. Hopefully, the FAA inspectors will actually have the authority to make findings of airworthiness, unhindered by higher micromanagement, so that the appearance they want to make is actually matched by reality.