Airline bashing.

I have a late model car that works whenever I turn the key on. It has 4 tyres and lots of turning and spinning engine stuff. In fact it has so many moving parts I am in awe that it doesn't break down after every trip I take. I have become used to it's reliability but know deep down that one day not to far in the future, something will go wrong and the car won't go. Just like that, some little thing will bring it to it's knees and I won't be able to get to where I need to be. Certainly nothing unusual about that and it would be hard to find anyone who hasn't had car troubles in their lives.

I mention the above with the view that we expect things to go wrong when there are approximately 10,000 moving parts in a car all fighting each other to get you from A to B.

So why do airlines like Qantas, with who knows how many moving parts, get so much grief when they have engine or electrical troubles? Is it the 33,000 feet altitude? Is it the 500 back seat drivers? Do people really think nothing will ever break down? Or is it simply fun to poke at our national icons, especially when they are down? We are after all a country of so called larrikins making sure no one gets to the top without some hazing. Staying there is another matter altogether.

Certainly the safety aspect of pulling up on the roadside is preferable to plunging to your death at 700 kilometres an hour. Yet all the records show it is safer to fly than drive your car. So what is it that drives the emotional level so high when it comes to air safety? It's the same as rare shark attacks which are less common than death by bee stings because the sensational side of the story is more gripping than the truth.

So Qantas won't win the media war highlighting its mechanical hiccups. With over 5600 domestic and international flights a week Qantas makes my car trips insignificant and I know that my tyres at least would need replacing, not to mention having to fill the wiper fluid countless times.

To take those numbers into consideration and admit it's a staggering task keeping all that equipment running smoothly is all they ask, after all you don't write a letter of complaint to your car manufacturer every time the car has a mechanical issue. So stop the shark spotting and marvel at the accomplishment of getting those buses with wings to 33,000 feet and their final destinations.