Originally Posted by
Big Pistons Forever
This makes me wonder about regulatory capture. There is huge pressures on the regulators to approve MEL’s because of the potential cost savings of not having an airplane grounded when something breaks.
That's why the manufacturers create the "Master" MEL (MMEL). Operators can go more conservative than the MMEL with their own MEL, but it's nearly impossible for them have a more permissive MEL than the Master.