Indeed, as I recall, government owning part of a company, not all, is a fairly common practice worldwide. It recognizes that the company is quasi-governmental, as Boeing is.
Is this "better?" I don't know, but for an extremely large, capital-intensive, national security-critical industry, it might be the least bad solution (and no, I'm not a socialist).
Is this "better?" I don't know, but for an extremely large, capital-intensive, national security-critical industry, it might be the least bad solution (and no, I'm not a socialist).