The decline of Boeing began long ago with the McDonnell Douglass merger. Decion makiking was quickly moved from Seattle to the new offices in the midwest. In practical terms, this was the beginning of the transition of Boeing the 'airplane' company becoming a corporation run by bean counters.Surprisingly the FAA seems to have never been put on the spot for allowing all the self oversight by Boeing???
Boeing is also not the Boeing of old but it is all we have left in the US for commercial airline building.
The results are what you would expect. This is one industry where it is essential that engineering, production and related areas have a seat at the decision making table alongside the bean counters.
In addition to being allowed by the feds to have enoigh rope to hang themselves, in some ways this is also a genertional issue. While we can do marvelous things with computers today, it seems difficult lessons from the past have been forgotten or lost in the corporate culture. The attitude that their own analysis by a group of young engineers guaranteeing a streamlined system was fail safe proved problematic. Another case of engineers saying something can't happen. Then Murphy shows up and it does.