How safe are our skies ?

I was seeing an episode of the air crash investigation in National Geographic. Somehow a disturbing thought was coming to my mind.
The points I got from the series were, aircrafts are very sophisticated machines built on failproof mechanisms. There are hundreds of small components in this aircarft which make us fly through the sky and they have been engineered to perfection. Also most of the systems are redundant - to make them fail-proof, means, a single component failing can not cause an accident. So far so good. I was happy.
After that certain points caught my attention. About 70% of the accidents are caused by personnel errors - made by people. Some of the components really depend on proper inspection, maintentance and replacement, rather than redundancy to be fail-proof.
Are you wondering where am I going with this? Giving a transcript of tv series or showing you I see National Geographic.
Really no. Most of the components have a stipulated service and replacement period.
The above points I mentioned becomes very important in time of recession - Personnel error and maintenance. We have been seeing many offers of cheap tickets. This may have been possible when the boom was there. But what about now ? How will the industry cope with the pressure - particularily in developing countries ? Develped countries may have many watch-dogs for industry standards and regulations.
Like any industry, the airline industry can also take steps to see off recession. Decreasing staff, Increasing the work load, increasing the uasge frequence of a carrier, therby decreasing the maintenance time and frequency. Replacement of components can be delayed. Faulty components which should be replaced may be left behind for the next maintenance period, as more maintenance time , means more time off the air.
This may or may not be happening, but this was a thought that came to my mind.
Really do not want my fears to be true.
Hmm............how safe are our skies through this recession period ?