As laudable as AEI's attempts to bolster the position of licensed engineers are, this political piece of nonsense is neither newsworthy nor accurate. The statement;
has broken the golden rule of aviation by allowing commercial pressure to become paramount ahead of safety.
...is simply laughable. Like it or not, everything has a price, and safety is just one of those things. Since when did being profitable become "Commercial Pressure"? No airline will survive with a poor or questionable safety record, but that doesn't mean safety isn't a costed factor. There is nothing in these claims that hasn't been seen and done before, so why TAM should suddenly come under the AEI's spotlight is a far more interesting question.