Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast.

It's Wednesday the 11th of February.

I'm delighted to be joined by Captain David Sanders retired,

airline pilot, which means that he is in a good position to talk to me about things that people get wrong about aviation.

All of us, I think, have misplaced sense of air safety. All of us have our own views on

what should be happening, how airlines should be run. And that's what I want to talk to you about,

David. So is it the best or the

worst job in the world? It's a great job. It does involve getting up at crazy times in the morning,

which is obviously a big downside. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I love flying. So, you know,

that's why I did it. Yeah. Tell us about, first of all, safety, of course, the most important thing.

There's a lot of people, some of them listening, who are anxious about, first of all, safety, of course, the most important thing. There's a lot of people,

some of them listening, who are anxious about flying, particularly, maybe in bad weather.

What can you say to assuage their concerns?

Obviously, safety in flying is number one consideration. I guess most people have read all the statistics that suggests that most dangerous bit about travelling somewhere is driving to the airport. I've flown for

30 years and I haven't even had a minor incident, let alone an accident. So very safe, I would say,

yeah. Well, you've flown for a variety of outlines, but a lot of people, I think, these days,

will grudgingly appreciate the amazing safety record, particularly of UK and Irish Airlines,

but then also in the same breath almost say, yeah, of course, all these airlines are out

to diddle us somehow.

Yes, there does seem to be that perception.

I had a few episodes in my

flying career where people are questioning what you've done. But I mean, basically, the airlines

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