budget airlines safe? budget airlines do cut corners but on convenience. they cut corners on legroom, complimentary drink, low airfares but not a lot of trils. experts tell us they do not cut costs on safety. they do pay crews less than other airlines but that doesn t mean the pilot isn t safe and the planes themselves are very well maintained. in this particular case this was a very experienced cabin crew. some perspective here southwest is one of the best-known budget carriers here in the u.s. never has had a major crash. its stock was a top performer on the s&p 500 last year. and lufthansa s stock is down since the germanwings plane crashed. not really a surprise there, but many people say that the maintenance arm of lufthansa among the best in the world. just a tragic accident it looks like at this time. a lot more investigation still to go. eight minutes past the hour. happening now, the rift widening