So where does our government focus its police powers?
Nothing so dramatic. After all, there's no FBI agents in windbreakers, no speech from the A.G., no "perp walk", nothing but Boeing agreeing to pay a fine rather than further drag out a matter which has been ongoing since the NTSB report on the crash of TWA 800.
Boeing will be well aware that paying what amounts to fractions of a penny per share and publicly supporting "safety" initiatives is better than the alternative of a protracted fight. It gives the FAA a "win" and probably buys Boeing some "consideration" in other FAA matters.
Boeing is a business and this is not the first time a regulated business has clashed with a regulatory agency regarding regulations, directives or policy. It's a part of the business of maximizing profit in a regulated industry. Win some, lose some. Meanwhile the effect of applying regulation to both the manufacture and operation of airliners seems to have had a mostly positive effect upon the overall safety of airlines in general. Who thinks the industry would achieved what it has without regulation?
I resent overbearing government bureaucracy as much as anyone, but complete anarchy hasn't been demonstrated to work very well either. Maybe there is such a thing as the "right" amount of regulation?
westhawk