Do Boeing and Airbus learn from each other?
Yes Airbus and Boeing learn from each other: they compete with each other. Both are implementing successful features of the competitor, and when the A320 came to market it required differentiating features to gain market share. The competing design from Boeing, the 737Classic, was completely re-designed in the 90s because of the lower specific fuel consumption of the A320. The other Boeing product competing in this class, the B757, is out of production. The resulting 737NG has outstanding fuel economy as well, partly achieved by the blended winglet which Boeing pioneered for this class of aircraft.



Where the two companies differ is in the design philosophy for interaction of the pilot with the aircraft. The A320 is actually the oldest design of Airbus that is still produced - the type was certified in 1988, while the 737 and the 747 type certificates were issued two decades earlier. The 737 MAX still has a common type rating with the original B737-100 and this poses a limit on the introduction of new flight crew ergonomics. The A320 could completely re-design all known features in cockpit control and implement new ones from military aircraft, such as the side stick which made the F-16 such a successful air superiority fighter.

The OP focuses on accidents and incidents which happened with the planes, due to incorrect pilot action. This is a subject where everybody learns from everybody, to continue to make air travel safer:


Every accident is thoroughly analysed in order to find the cause and prevent it from happening again in the future. This is done by independent government organisation who only focus on the cause of the accident, nothing else. The NTSB in the USA, the BEA in France.
As a result of this, there may be improvements imposed by the overseeing regulatory aviation organisations: FAA in the USA, EASA in Europe. They may write directives for aircraft manufacturers to implement changes in the design of the aircraft if that is where the incident cause was, or in the training procedures of pilots if pilot error was found to be a factor.


The ultimate proof of the pudding is in safety, and both Boeing and Airbus have excellent and very similar safety records for their aeroplanes. There are many ways that lead to Rome - everybody learns from everybody, and continues to improve their design which will always differ to an extent from the competition.