Originally Posted by The SSK
Your argument is based on an assumption that airlines are too stupid to recognise this, and therefore need civil servants to tell them what they can and cannot do.
I think Sunfish's argument is based on the
fact that airlines sometimes do things which are not necessarily optimal for safety, for a number of reasons (in order to maintain market share, when everyone else is doing it, for example). It is appropriate for a regulator to step in when it judges that that is happening.
Indeed, that is still one of the most frequent comments about U.S. airline deregulation, that safety has suffered as a consequence (that is not necessarily my view; I am merely pointing out that some hold it).
In the current situation, it would be very hard for an airline not to fly, even if it judges that it is not wise to do so, if everyone else is flying. The airline would instantly lose all market share.
PBL