[alnick]

I was phobic of flying planes before 9/11.

Me too. It seemed as though the airlines would just use a plane until it fell apart in mid-air. We replace our cars with new ones every few years, but airliners just run those planes till they crash. No thanks.

[Concentrate]

It depends on the airline. It's safe to fly one that keeps and maintains modern fleets. United, American, and many others are safe bets. You are mch more likely to get into a deadly car crash than a commercial airliner crash.

Think about it; there are planes taking off and landing EVERY 2/3 minutes in every major city in the world every day of the year. The chances of you getting on a flight that is going to crash is truely infinitesmal.

[BillaryBeGone]

It seemed as though the airlines would just use a plane until it fell apart in mid-air.

Wrong. I made the mistake of buying an airplane once upon a time. Mind you, this was a small single-engine, 4-seater for private use. The first annual inspection cost me $4,000 - in 1980. The regs are so strict and so severe, for all practical purposes, it's impossible to put an unsafe plane in the sky. Then, of course, there's the down side of planes falling out of the sky for lack of maintenance - it's called "bankruptcy". I'd take a plane trip over a car trip any day. Flying is MUCH safer. How many people die in car wrecks every year? How many from bad airline maintenance? Think about it.

[Denver Ditdat]

We replace our cars with new ones every few years, but airliners just run those planes till they crash. No thanks.

If cars were built and maintained to the same standards as aircraft, you'd buy your first (and only) auto at age 16 along with your driver's license and leave it to your grandchildren when you died at age 80.

Airline maintenance is an intensive, ongoing process and bears no resemblance to the typical "Gee, I just opened my hood for the first time this year. What's that 710 cap for?" soccer mom car service schedule.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Me too. It seemed as though the airlines would just use a plane until it fell apart in mid-air. We replace our cars with new ones every few years, but airliners just run those planes till they crash. No thanks. Is your car stripped down to the frame every few years and x-rayed from front to back? Is your car worked on and checked every day to ensure that everything is in order? Does your car have an extensive tracking program of every single event that happened in the life of your car? I've flown on 60 year old DC-3's, ancient Ilyushin 62 and Tupolev 134 planes with confidence. I've seen some amazing work on planes that are older than its pilots. Trust me, a 20 year or 30 year old airliner in America is safer than your car.