Hi
FPPF, the phrase "you get what you pay for" is actually how all safety issues are addressed in terms of a Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) tradeoff - be it in planes, trains, buildings, ships, anything....., even the materials used in your bed! Apologies for being boring but I will explain.
100% safety is the goal but is statistically an impossibility. If you look at additional cost verses additional safety in, say, a building in an earthquake region, the returns are diminishing. For example, assume a 10% reduction in Probability of Damage (PoD) during a quake costs £10M. A further 10% reduction in PoD will cost £100M, a further 10% costs £1000M and so on. Somewhere, you trade off risk against cost else we could not afford the building in the first place! In fact, just to be safe, better chop the trees down too.
Aircraft are machines and as such are subject to similar risk assessment. As you said, the Consumer cannot become directly involved with this. However, and this is where the Press need to educate people into the Cost of any change, the Consumer influences where this and other CBAs cut off. By expecting/demanding lower fares, the Safety CBA will inevitably come under pressure along with all other aspects. That is why Regulations exist to ensure MIMIMUM standards are met.
Only by the Consumer paying for the extra safety, in this case, more room between seats, can the Safety CBA work to improve things. If they don't agree to pay for it then it will not appear in global terms. Short-term marketing strategies could "buy" Consumers additional safety over a competitor but, alas, market forces will ensure that blip is flattened out and there will be a net cost to the Industry which the Consumer eventually must pay for.
So there is a fact of life which I wish people would understand - you do get what you pay for. That is why I said "Stakeholder Teamwork" is what is required to sort this. Airline Managers want people to fly, do not want to be taken to Court, need to make a profit (where is your pension fund invested by the way?) and the price the Consumer is willing to pay has a direct bearing on what people in the Industry can do. And if you say markets are NOT price-sensitive, just look at Go, Easyjet, Ryanair et al!
So, when you go to bed tonight you may look on that bit of furniture in a different light. It has been well and truly CBA'd! Now, is H 'n' H simply "Sad" or has he completely "Lost It"! Either way, hopefully I've explained that phrase "you get what you pay for"!
H 'n' H <img src="smile.gif" border="0">