Hi Pat,
Agreed that everyone should be trained to highest standards possible. Since the reality is that a large portion of the world’s pilots are not so trained, and that that situation isn’t likely to change soon, it seems like you’re saying that Boeing should only sell to US carriers, since apparently Boeing was relying on that level of competence to ensure a safe flight. Not sure that Boeing or its shareholders will agree with that business strategy, but Airbus is probably OK with it.
Also, the analogy of the B-17 gust locks only holds if Boeing had painted them with camouflage to hide them from pilots and if the B-17 POH or other standard training manuals of the day did not mention removal of gust locks during preflight inspection.