I think this quote neatly summarises something about 'entitlement culture' that I don't understand.

Planes take off with all sorts of minor glitches every day. Indeed the ADD (Acceptable Deferred Defect) list on a widebody can reach run to over 100 items. None of these faults will stop the flight from operating safely and most passengers will accept the inconvenience of a non-functional reading light for the opportunity to get from A to B.

If a mechanical problem is sufficiently serious to warrant immediate repair then it's probably safe to assume that continuing with the defect could potentially have catastrophic consequences. At this point the airlines attempt to rectify the problem. The post blithely talks about 'allocating sufficient backups' as though this were a simple matter. But at what cost? Common causes of mechanical delays include burst tyres and foreign object damage which can occur at any airport. While DL may have backup at its hubs, what about at other stations? Even where backup is available, a spare plane will usually be at a remote location on a maintenance base and crews will either be at home or waiting away from the airport.

We happily take for granted the ability to travel by air but the operational reality is that this is a hard business. Planes face the punishing ordeal of taking off and landing on each journey and, as yet, we don't have the ability to guarantee that these processes will not damage some key system on the plane. When that happens, and it inevitably will, then I wouldn't want to get on that plane until it's fixed. I also wouldn't want to put pressure on the airline to cut corners to avoid making mandatory compensation payments for the delay. We all take safety for granted (how many people watch the onboard safety briefings?) and moan when things go wrong. Yet we expect to be able to fly where we want, when we want for next to nothing. I just don't get it.