It's not clear to me which aspects of Boeing's authority are in question even after reading the FT article. Boeing has both have Designated Engineering Represe

It's not clear to me which aspects of Boeing's authority are in question even after reading the FT article. Boeing has both have Designated Engineering Representatives (DERs) who are involved in design certification questions for airframe type certificates and quality inspectors who are involved in certifying individual already-built airframes for airworthiness (conformance to type certification and in condition for safe operation). The former are usually not called inspectors, but many of the comments here are covering topics that are the domain of DERs rather than inspectors/A&P w/IA.