If you look at "reliability" over the last 2 or 3 years, it's the brand new planes that have proven to have problems! Older "models" have the problems worked out! You have no idea about the age of many of the planes flying over your house every day....it's not very unusual for a major airline to have planes in their fleet that are 20 years old or more. It's just too darn expensive to junk them until they really can't be useful. Alaska Airlines - one of the safest you can fly - only recently sold off their last 757 and that was because they decided to be an all 737 airline.