Originally Posted by
FlightlessParrot
May I ask a question about delegation, relevant to anyone who may travel on a Boeing aircraft.
I have formed the notion, from this discussion, that in the good old days the FAA delegated a lot of responsibility to individual Boeing engineers, who reported to the FAA; the engineers had to manage their dual loyalties, but the FAA was in a position to check that. I think that what has happened is that the engineers now report to Boeing managers, which means that the FAA has delegated responsibility not to engineers whom it can choose, but to the Boeing company.
Is this notion accurate? If so, it's troubling, because individuals have ethical standards, but by modern doctrine, a company's responsibility is to its shareholders, not any ethical ideals.
The delegates always report to their company managers but are still responsible to the FAA for their decisions. No way can a company manager over-rule the delegate. The company delegate does his job of informing his company manager of his interfacing responsibilities with the FAA.
In my view if there was a fault, it was in the decision making based on the information provided to the delegate/FAA and not the chain of command nor a mixed allegiance