I've been wondering why they don't do that as well. Making flying so dangerous that people will want to avoid it (hell, right now, it's probably 'too' safe in that the marginal safety loss is lesser than the amount of hassle and nonsense people put up with at the airport). You don't even need to make it that unsafe, as the fear of dying in a flying inferno is so great that people will still fear it if there are a couple of accidents a month - even if flying remains vastly safer than driving.

Yet they are not doing this. Why? Possibly because of the aforementioned instinctive reaction to airplane crashes. It's thoroughly investigated, heads will roll, and there is accountability as one of the few places in the West.