and still cut costs. This, however, does not appear to be the norm.The airlines that are compromising on their expenses may just be creating a larger problem than they are trying to avoid. The growing number of aircraft accidents and even smaller incidents are painting a very grim picture of today's airline operations. People are no longer willing to blindly trust the airlines. They listen very carefully when an aircraft is on the news because of a crash or a smaller incident. The customers listen to hear the name of the airline that is operating that aircraft and more often than not the airline will notice a drop in bookings. This translates into lost revenue. The airlines must also consider what happens when a fatality occurs (Dickey 08). The lawsuits or compensation paid for a settlement can be tremendous and could very well spell the end of the airline. This was the case with the crash of ValuJet Flight Number 592 in May of 1996. The result of the investigation into the accident revealed that, while not the cause of the accident, the maintenance program facilitated by the airline was suspect and severe doubts were cast on the safety and security of the aircraft operated by the airline. The result was desertification of many of the aircraft owned by the airline for inspection and safety violations. The airline eventually ended up out of business. The primary cause of the crash was a piece of equipment that was being carried as cargo and was not the result of shoddy maintenance but the crash and the questions about the overall safety of the aircraft drove the company out of business.There have been many instances where the safety of an aircraft has been questioned and, even though the aircraft wasn't found to be at fault, public opinion cost the manufacturer many millions of dollars in revenue due to order cancellations (Dickey 08). One prime example would be the DC-10 that crashed shortly after it was put into service. It was discov...
