From what I understand the whole reason this happened was that Boeing wanted the new efficient engines without having to call the plane a new model. So they were really asking pilots with no training on the new Max planes to react correctly to a situation that didn't exist on the old plane within 10 seconds. Surely this is basically admitting to being at fault?
Also, these airlines that bought the Max on the basis they wouldn't have to re-train the pilots are presumably having to foot the bill for this?
Private pilot here. You have it exactly right. The problem is not the ten-second reaction time. There are a lot of emergencies that require that kind of reaction time (engine failure, to cite the obvious example). The problem is ten-second reaction time to a new kind of emergency without special training for that emergency.
Also, these airlines that bought the Max on the basis they wouldn't have to re-train the pilots are presumably having to foot the bill for this?