In that case the NPR article (which doesn’t mention a date) is just factually incorrect.
> Another damning exchange calls into question the safety of the 737 Max long before the plane was approved to fly passengers.
> "Would you put your family on a Max simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn't," says one employee to another, who responds, "No."
If that quote was from 2018, then it’s from a year after FAA approval, not “long before” it.
I was criticising the reporting, not defending Boeing, and as you’ve kindly pointed out, the reporting is even more dubious than I had first thought.
