As customer option blah blah blah. Is passenger safety optional?
NTSB recommendation to the FAA, 1996, after the AA965 crash near Cali, Colombia:
Require that all transport-category aircraft present pilots with angle-of-attack information in a visual format, and that all air carriers train their pilots to use the information to obtain maximum possible airplane climb performance (Class 11, Priority Action) (A-96-94)
Nearly 20 years later we still don't have AOA indicators on the vast, vast majority of transport-category aircraft. Why is that?
FAA's response to NTSB on this recommendation, dated October 2000:
THE FAA HAS REEXAMINED ITS POSITION REGARDING THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DISPLAY OF ANGLE-OF-ATTACK INFORMATION TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM CLIMB PERFORMANCE AND HAS CONCLUDED THAT THE REQUREMENT TO INSTALL ANGLE-OF-ATTACK INFORMATION IN ALL TRANSPORT-CATEGORY AIRCRAFT IS NOT WARRANTED BECAUSE OF THE DECISION TO MANDATE TERRAIN AWARENESS AND WARNING SYSTEM (TAWS)
