The good thing is that nowadays, when it goes bad in the sky there are usually two outcomes - everyone survives or everyone dies. This is actually progress compared to thirty years ago when there were 50 percent casualty rates jets were getting bent weekly.
The metamorphosis that air travel has undergone in the last twenty years is remarkable and sad at the same time. Flying used to be an efficient tool to travel long distances in relative comfort and enjoyment. Politics, security theatre, shifting technologies, and market challenges have resulted in a race to suck the joy and comfort out of air travel. By design or happenstance it doesn't matter.
Most of my pleasure flying is ultra long haul stuff half way around the world. I hate it. For everything else, I tend to drive - not because it's faster (sometimes depending on distance) not because it is more flexible (frequently it is) but mainly because I can do 12 to 15 hours at stretch and arrive much more comfortably than half that time spent in the air. I fully understand why some people try to open the cabin doors in flight. Most of the time I feel the same way and just want to get the eff out! Thought I was going to lose my mind once on an absolutely rammed 777 out of Beijing for Toronto. Six hours into the trip I'd had enough but there was still another 6.5 to go. That was painful.
Sorry for the sidebar. Carry on.
