Aeromedic - if you don't want risk you don't do or achieve anything. Life has a degree of risk associated with it, it comes down to managing that risk.
Just as cars have gone from drum brakes to disks, engines are now good for 200K miles etc and servicing intervals have increased and actual time spent in servicing has decreased as newer technology has replaced old so it is for aircraft. New developments mean less maintenance is required, and new maintenance techniques reduce the time spent actually doing services.
It has always been thus ad hopefully ever will.
Clear example - ever used a borescope in anything? If so then you've just saved a motza in time and cost. Bringing all those developments to bear is what needs to happen to maintain a cost advantage over the competition and thus ultimately helping secure jobs.