Both... the Gov’t is supposed to check up on the airlines, but cannot (for any number of reasons, primarily ineptitude), and the airlines took advantage of it by skipping out on the various inspections, basically gambling with the lives of their pilots and passengers to save more $$.
“and the airlines took advantage of it by skipping out on the various inspections, basically gambling with the lives of their pilots and passengers to save more $$.”
I trust the airlines much more than I trust the government to watch out for my safety. If the airlines have a plane go down its a huge issue for them.
But the reported inspections are not safety issues.
So if a problem is discovered .... IT AIN’T SAFETY RELATED.
Therefore, I doubt that planes would be falling out of the air - therefore the airlines weren’t gambling with the lives of passengers. They were gambling with the profitability airlines - could they do the work in a manner that would satisfy the FAA without hurting their bottom line. The apparent answer is NO - the FAA will mandate these changes, insist that they be done, regardless of cost or impact on the flying public, even if it is not safety related. (And of course - these costs will eventually be borne by the flying public in higher ticket prices.)