A pax speaking: My I suggest that you search for this subject in PPRuNe? It has been discussed ad infinitum in the past years and you will readily find the whole range of responses and from all sides in many of the forums.
For my part, having followed such threads with interest, I think the people you want to investigate are the CAA and their cousins in other European countries. Are they keeping up with developments in the airline industry??? One example, the 900 hour limit was (it has oft been said) a limit that was to be reached only occasionally. Now all airlines see it as a target to be met. Their need to do that is obvious but what effect is that having on flight crew?
Consider the problems reported in Spain. There is a thread running in this Forum: Barcelona Runway TO/Ground Close call Are the Spanish authorities on top of their expanding responsibilities?
If ANY airline is cutting corners, they will only be able to do so if the oversight is not there. Look at the NHS, we know that the rise in MRSA is not just due to casual attitude by some medical staff - but the steady reduction in cleaning costs by managment. They have steadily cut costs and eventually, it cost lives. Is the same thing going to happen in the airline world? (Murphy says, Yes')
The in built benefit that we as passengers have is that - the flight crew are sitting in the same place. In hospitals, the MRSA does not get the people who make the decision to cut the cleaning budget! So there is an enormous saftey net that continues to work for the greatest number of times.
The problem for you is that "Is the CAA up to the job?", is a very much longer (and more expensive) research job than trying to find out if one airline or another has put a bit of pressure on it's staff. BUT the benefit for you is that - NO ONE HAS ASKED THIS QUESTION at least, not in any meaningful way. How do the CAA recruit their staff? How much money do they have? Has their funding increased with the enoromous rise in air travel in the past decade? Have the instructions from their political masters changed???
The old question still pertains ... Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?