Ah, well state level actors are another thing altogether, and would definitely have the effect you mention; a general distrust of air travel would be quite disruptive, and not in a good way. It is certainly worth considering.

But the simplest cause I see so far is piling-on job-termination stress onto an already stressed-near-the-limit air traffic control workforce, and near-eliminating enforcement of maintenance regulations. Better yet, the results will be totally stochastic.