There's a degree of irony in that the reason air travel is so safe is because air travel safety is so heavily regulated.
The FAA's issuing of new safety regulations has historically been reactionary, they are generally enacted in response to an accident or specific incident. It is actually only very recently that they have shifted from a reactive event based system to a proactive form of risk management.
The amount of regulation comes from that, as does the industry embracing safer procedures by itself.
Why use more fuel than needed in a flight, if you are going to get there anyway? Is that safety measure so important? Without regulations this will be more common:
"Colombia's Civil Aeronautics agency concluded in its investigation that the plan for the flight operated by Bolivia-based charter company LaMia did not meet international standards." "Neither the company nor Bolivian authorities should have allowed the plane to take off with the flight plan submitted, said Freddy Bonilla, air safety secretary for Colombia's aviation authority." http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/ch...
Also, Tabaco happens. Kill your customers, get new ones.
Killing them quickly and violently tends to go poorly.
Aircraft kill quickly, violently, and in headline-leading ways...