Tag: iStockphoto

A powerful and poorly understood anti-stall system in the new planes may have played a role in the crashes, leading lawmakers and the public to question how the system was approved in the first place. Republicans will argue that regulations are bad for business and growth, while Democrats will essentially cede that point, arguing that rules are nonetheless necessary for health and safety. The notion of sharing the work of inspecting and clearing planes with the company isn’t absurd. There’s a rule for that. Then there are the 4,600 Max 8 planes yet to be delivered, all of which will stay on the ground until the company has fixed the issue and they are cleared to fly again. This might have been avoided with a better regulatory process, one that didn’t put quite so much faith in the company to regulate itself. But the notion that regulation can be good for business runs counter to the political debate about rules in Washington. Boeing is far from the only example of good regulations being good for business—or regulatory lapses being bad. (The FAA took a long timeto put rules in place for drones, and as a result, companies that make them started testing in countries that already had clear rules.) The renewed attention on airplane safety, and to what extent Boeing should be able to regulate itself, is a good thing.