Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't 3 engine DC-10's and Tristars cross those same shark infested waters?
And Boeing 767's, Boeing 737's and now Boeing 777's plus a few Scairbuses
(yes, I'm an "If It Ain't Boeing I'm Not Goin " man - I, usually, have a choice and the choice is mine - I pay, now.)
But ........ they are designed to.
Why compromise built in, deliberate, design safety for commercial expediency ?
I repeat ...
Nevertheless - there is a difference between an aircraft commander making decisions that may be regarded as 'against accepted practice' at the end of a flight, when his options might be seriously restricted, and one making such a decision at the start of a flight, when there was no reason to take a chance.
I think that if the subject BA crew had asked their passengers opinion, instead of their company bean-counters, they would have been told to make a different decision.
Anyhow, that subject has been hammered to death on a previous thread, I only commented because someone else had drifted slightly.