Ignoring the news frenzy for a second, Boeing’s engineering-first culture has steadily degraded since their merger with McDonnell Douglas in the late 90s. Given that a lot of planes from that era are still in service, it takes time to design and build planes, and it took time for Boeing’s culture to shift, I think we’re only just now seeing the major impacts from cost cutting and ignoring safety concerns. There is still a ton of regulation in the commercial flight sector that is steadily degrading, but I think that has also played a part in maintaining safety up until recently. So expect stories like this to continue to happen unless there is a major effort to further regulate Boeing (lol).
This is an anti-historical take. You can disagree with ML methods or ideology while still acknowledging where they have had material success in bringing about wins for the working class.