Somewhat ironic but when the European Parliament was debating this Regulation they insisted that nothing in it would ever compromise safety. Funny, I thought they were the regulators, not the courts.
Compensation for a technical delay of a full A319 short haul could be €40,000, a 314 seat B777 could be €188,000. (a 451 seat B777 would be €271,000)
And when the average profit per passenger is less than $6 ...
I'm not so certain that some airlines won't put pressure on their staff to operate in a 'less than safe manner' (notice, I didn't say unsafe).
Yes, I realise, that air crew can refuse to do so, but …