Well as I stated originally it is also MY opinion as well. And I do have first hand experience. A lot of it. You are correct that we have one of the safest track records. It is my opinion though that it has very little to do with the FAA proper. The vast vast majority of the credit goes to the controllers, pilots and mechanics who maintain the planes. You could eliminate the FAA bureaucracy tomorrow, and you would hardly know they were gone.
what do you expect, philosophy majors? politicians are elected because they are popular not because they are competent. we need real STATESMEN, i agree, but don't expect any too soon
Honestly I am extremely skeptical about that. I have no reason whatsoever to believe that airlines (often struggling and cash strapped airlines) would invest just as much money, time and effort in training, maintenance and safety if the FAA did not require these measures, did not provide specific and strict guidelines and did not stringently enforce their requirements and regulations. Just like people would not drive safely if they knew that traffic cops were on strike, the airlines would not fly safely either if the FAA was out of business and was not around to penalize them or shut them down. They would immediately start cutting corners and taking unnecessary risk to improve their bottom line.
Don't be so gullible. We are talking about basic military strategy. You are seeing in Iraq War, generals and commanders being asked to resign when they are clearly making a case for the right strategy. A lot of the same happened in Vietnam. Let alone that Ho Chi Mihn at first came to USA for help to avoid having to go to USSR. While they are morons scattered all over Federal Government making idiotic decisions, most of these "screw ups" are by design. There are hidden goals, which apparently, are being achieved at a great rate. Especially considering that 95% of the public just brushes it off as Federal Government stupidity.
I don't think you caught my point. Private business is no longer "merit" based in this country, well not the large corporate side of it. Same crap goes on there. At least Federal Government goals are serious, while the sh*t going on in corporations is petty at times. VPs, Managers, even CEOs will screw whole departments and even companies for what seems like chump change in retrospect. You look at this subprime mess and the news rhetoric of "How could these finance geniuses at the IBs make such bad decisions?" It's laughable. They just pulled off the same crap in the tech bust, how can everyone be so gullible to not see the scheme. My first corporate job, I just could not figure out why our director refuses to do the right thing which would improve productivity & service. It hit me years after. She got to make more money the wrong. And few who were in power, cared to unveil the mess, because there was more money in covering it up.
Your skepticism is understandable, if I didn't already know better I might be too. The FAA is of course responsible for enforcing requirements and regulations and yes some airlines would (and do) cut corners. Two problems though. Ask almost anyone thats been involved in aviation in a professional manner for more than 5 minutes and they'll probably agree that the FAA has been in bed with the airlines for decades. Second the competence of the FAA's "enforcers" often leaves much to be desired. True story, on the way back to the airport after a check ride we let the FAA examiner fly the plane. It quickly became apparent this poor bastard couldn't fly his way out of a wet paper bag. And he's responsible for determining which pilots are safe to fly and which are not. Kinda hard to do when your grossly incompetent and not safe yourself. A little public safety anyone? Another true story, an FAA maintenance inspector walked up to a parked plane in a hangar having some work done. He was beside himself because there was no registration number painted on the side of the plane as required. He was pulling out his pad getting ready to violate the owners when the mechanics pointed out that numbers WERE painted on the side of the engine cowls but they had been removed and were sitting on the floor next to the plane. The automotive equivalent would be walking up to a parked car with the hood raised and asking where the hood ornament is. Starting to get the picture? Here's a little known FACT that might curb your enthusiasm for the FAA. Primarily with airliners when the FAA finds a safety related defect they will estimate the number of likely deaths that might be caused by it and then multiply each by $2M. They then compare that to the cost to the industry to determine if it's cost effective to make the air carriers/OEM correct the problem. If it's not cost effective the FAA will sometimes let it go. That is until a plane crashes and passengers are killed. Then of course the FAA comes publicly "running to the rescue" to make those evil cost cutting airlines fix the defect. And if your thinking this is an aviation "urban legend". I saw a high ranking FAA official being interviewed on a nationally televised segment. Where after being pressed by the reporter he admitted the FAA does in fact do this. Still skeptical? You know you actually raises the red flag on airline corner cutting, over working pilots and the like? As often as not it's the labor unions, NOT the FAA. And before you decide I'm going "hurray" for the unions. I'm about as anti union as I can get. And if all that's not enough, well it's certainly your prerogative to believe what you like. You seem like a smart enough guy to know though that ignorance of and or refusal to believe in reality - isn't going to change reality.