Brian, the work (the SB/AD) was in the hands of maintenance. Now it is not feasible that any qualified individual would perform only half the work and release the aircraft as serviceable due to an oversight.
Even less so on an RVSM aircraft. If I am now to believe that 96 aircraft had their air data hardware modified without tests being performed afterwards that is an extremely serious WHY NOT?
As I doubt very much that only one individual was involved with all 96 aircraft this indicates an extremely serious culture issue.
That is why there are no parallels.
It is also worthy of note that some operators complained to the FAA that the original AD was too work intensive resulting in expensive long ground time. I wonder whether that operator was United.
This AD was deemed as necessary as safety was affected. Either the industry is serious about safety or its serious about making huge sums of money. You can have both but not when tickets are being sold for a few dollars.
It is time for all involved with aviation to wake up. Safety has been eroded due to commercial pressure and it has been going on for some time. The cracks have been ignored and those raising the alarm have been ridiculed.
We are now slowly entering the Payback era. I wish it was otherwise.