Pax B: in many way you are correct. It is a cost/risk analysis situation. I am alway amazed at the reaction of authorities, & the public, to life taking events. A train smash, an a/c smash, a .....??????? Let us not let it happen again. Design it out. Enforce safety procedures; etc. etc. Then we hear, quietly, that there are so many XYZ deaths per year from problems in hospitals; there are so many deaths on the roads; there are so many deaths from foods; were are so many deaths from............
Reaction? not a lot because the publicity and shock value from the media is not there. 5 a/c crashes per year in one EU country is less than unnecessary hospital deaths and/or car deaths. Is there a cry of outrage for better driving standards or medical standards?
I'm with the 'better piloting skills' brigade because I was one. The managers/accountants/shareholder & the public? I wonder? Cynical, pessimistic, realistic. I'll let you decide.
Meanwhile the manufacturers are trying to design out the errors with more back-ups and fail-safe systems. Better pilots are not required because the a/c can not go wrong....go wrong....go wrong.....Ooops!