"In praise of maintenance"

Here's another Freakonomics Radio episode that's interesting in the perspective of an aviation professional. It's an oldie but goodie.

Of course, we've always known about this in our industry. Flying is such a risky adventure and aircraft are such expensive assets that there's just no way around it.

That being said, if you work as or near an aircraft maintenance engineer, you know the kind of resistance they're faced with when it comes to justifying the cost of maintenance. In the eyes of the client, it is very often too long/expensive/complicated/by-the-book to do the maintenance work required to continue to fly safely.

That's why this episode peaked our interest: it explains the importance of maintenance in a way that both more general and more specific than our aviation insiders habitual sources.

So what do you think is maintenance work valued enough in our industry? If regulatory requirements weren't so stiff, do you think maintenance would still get done?