OK, I'm taking off the kid gloves.

Warbo, your "employee party line" response is typical: the other two anonymous employees who responded here said the same thing.

No one here is saying that planes should take off when they are unsafe -- and it's insulting to us customers when US employees continue to imply that any of us are asking for US to fly unsafe planes. None of us ever said that -- yet you continue to imply so. What we are saying is for the planes to be maintained so that they do not break down when we are supposed to fly.

Your question is perfect: "Would you leave home for work if the brakes on your car weren't working?" I have never had that problem because I make sure that my car's brakes are maintained well in advance of any possible problem. If I miss an assignment because my brakes aren't working, my client will wonder why I let my brakes get to such a dangerous state in the first place. You seem to believe that such preventative maintanance is not possible with aircraft.

Yet as the poster above revealed, the law in Germany mandates that compensation be given to passengers who are delayed due to mechanical problems. Somehow I'd bet that Lufthansa's delays due to mechanical problems are kept to a minimum. It can be done.

More importantly, your telling customers that "s*** happens" is mind-boggling. Of course, it's easy to do so anonymously. If you have such disdain for the customers whom you are supposed to serve, perhaps you should find another job where you do not feel compelled to use expletives in response to their concerns.