I am not advocating tossing safety out the window. However, if we had saddled the development of aviation the way we do space, I am not sure passenger travel would yet be the norm.
Yes, and yes they do. And the beauty of flight rules is that you seldom have to make things up on the fly.
Gene Kranz is the fellow who drove that train, btw -- I'll never forget his "intro to new flight controllers" pitch where he described the rather hair-raising adventures that made him such a firm believer.