Completely agree that the LCC bashing does not need to got that far into irrational territory. Especially for safety concerns. If there is ONE thing that lccs need to survive (in the 1st world), it is an impeccable safety record. Everyone will stop flying ryanair the day they crash and they will not skimp on maintenance under any circumstance. However where they will cut heavily is on customer service and that side of the argument is not irrational.
Ryanair are very well known to refuse to compensate passengers for delays or cancellations and to misguide and mislead customers attemping to take them to court, to the point that the majority give up.
I have flown with FR multiple times and to be fair I have not had a single problem.
I am however aware that if my flight does have a problem I will need to fight my way out of it and possibly lose money. And that's mostly why I try and avoid them nowadays, but not because of safety co cerns.
Oh yeah and also, screw you for making us pay for cabin luggage... srsly....