Mephisto
Not the stunted one but he did get a big wad. There were half a dozen that scored over HKD30m, when it was real money. The biggest went to the blond (if receding) Aussie who started off as an F/E on the Electra.
Regrettably the 'paid for what we can do' argument went the way of the NDB letdown. The actuaries have taken over the asylum and the Black Swan has not appeared. Doesn't mean it won't but as long as the likes of Air Asia have yet to leave a smoking hole in the ground and degraded conditions haven't shown up in increased deaths per pax/km then the argument doesn't get traction any more.
I agree with your sentiments but sadly we are now in the very unsentimental world of mass transport.
