Unfortunately, as we have all seen time after time, whilst it is very easy for incompetent pilots to be removed, for those who upset management to be ousted or forgotten in some quiet backwater, and for those who "rock the boat" with safety concerns that would cost money for rectification to be gagged, it is far from easy to remove incompetent managers, nepotistic appointees and unsafe managers.
Interesting quote about Stalin from the book I'm reading at the moment - "Archangel" by Robert Harris.
Quoting Simonov, he describes a Politburo meeting in which the large number of aircraft crashes was discussed.
...the head of the airforce, Rychagov, was drunk. "There will continue to be a high level of accidents," he blurted out, "as long as we're compelled by you to go up in flying coffins." There was a long silence, at the end of which Stalin murmered, "You really shouldn't have said that." A few days later, Rychagov was shot.