Whatever skullduggery has led to the noncompliance-related groundings, and catch-up inspection & maintenance, the massive flight delays and cancellations have the unintended side-effect of REDUCING travel safety.
Think about it: How many thousands of travelers have decided to drive to their destinations rather than wait for a flight? Here in the colonies, the highway death rate per million passenger miles is several orders of magnitude WORSE than commercial air travel, whatever its shortcomings.
I'm sure someone can & will come up with a number for additional deaths (in)directly related to cancelled flights.
