Gaunty, have to agree with you about a serious lack of spares possibly pressuring engineers to sign off or turn a blind eye.No company is immune from that.
I also agree that $5m per frame is on the rich side but lets face it, the parts that are used the most frequently should be kept in good supply.
(ie: Tyres/Starter Motors/Generators/GCU's/Hydraulic
components/Lamps and globes (landing and other lights etc) rather than those things which have a long shelf life such as IRS's etc.
Also it gets sad when the bean counters get involved and actually sell parts from store inventories to improve the bottom line and make the books look better.
I remember Air New Zealand doing this with Ansett with obvious consequences and little forethought as to the expense when an aircraft is grounded in Perth for a few days waiting for a spare from god-knows where.
One day a B737 was grounded in Darwin because of a sheared starter motor and the nearest part was in Auckland.
Great sheep-shagger mentality there guys!!
Bean counters - take note.