Old airplanes never die, they just — what? Fall out of the air??
The older I get the more aware I become of this one reality: Everyone and everything starts to "run down" or wear out. I think Sir Isaac Newton formulated a law of physics to that effect. (Anyone out there remember the specifics about that? I never did well in science classes.)
So why should the nation's fleet of commercial aircraft be any different? (I won't even get into discussing military aircraft here.)
The fact is, according to the airline people, older planes aren't less safe. They simply require much more time and effort to keep them flying well and flying safely. I suppose I'll accept that explanation for the recent canceled flights by Delta and American Airlines. They were simply trying to make absolutely sure their aircraft were running properly. As one of their spokespeople put it in a story I read online a few minutes ago:
"This isn't a safety issue .. But reliability is becoming a concern due to the age of the fleet."
Okay, I don't want to sound alarmist here, or to be negative in my thinking in any way -- but is "reliability" very closely linked to "safety" when we're talking about airliners?? I find it hard to imagine getting on a commercial flight and finding out that the pilot, onboard crew, and groundcrew are "pretty sure" or "almost certain" it will "sort of fly right" to get me where I'm going.
That wouldn't equal my feelings if I were to hear the brain surgeon say, "Oops!," but it would be very similar.
What are the answers to this dilemma? I don't know. I'm sure the airlines aren't making bundles of money, given the costs of fuel, wages, and all the rest. I would hope they're making enough to replace an aging fleet before flying planes that "probably will get you there," wouldn't you??
Technorati Tags: aging airliners, airline performance, airline safety, take time for living
