The FAA is one of the few agencies that still has teeth. They will likely hold Boeing’s feet to the fire because the buck stops with them. I worked for a smaller aircraft manufacturer, and if we outsourced parts that failed, saying “oh it was the other company’s fault” would not be a valid excuse for the FAA. There would still be investigations into our practices, questions about why we didn’t have adequate inspections to verify the parts when they came in, and reviews into our vendor vetting processes. Any fines or disciplinary action would fall on us, not just the negligent outside company. Because at the end of the day, if we hired a negligent company that produced inferior parts, then WE were being negligent.

That said, bigger companies have a lot of connections and sway at the FAA and can do a lot that smaller companies can’t. But with all the repeated issues and bad press, I’m leaning towards Boeing getting raked over the coals.

There are only two government agencies you should never fuck with; the IRS and the FAA. The FDA used to be on that list, but they’ve fallen a bit to regulatory capture in recent years.