Been there, done that....
Its worth remembering that the majority of engineering managers were once Licensed Aircraft Engineers and many still hold licences, although the ratings may have long expired. To suggest as 'Nopax,thanx' does that managers face no legal penalties in the event of an accident is to say the least, ignorant: Managers face even greater accountability in this respect than do the licence holders.
'mono' gets it right when he says it is managements' job to apply pressure - thats how they find out if there is a real problem or not. I've refused to release an aircraft on several occasions and, faced with a lounge full of irate passengers, its only natural for the boss to apply pressure to test the situation. He could do no less. When I refused to budge though, there were never any consequences - unless you count increased respect of course.
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Through difficulties to the cinema