If bugfixing those planes will be as rigidly pursued as with some open source software, maybe the phrase 'buying a ticket' gets a totally new meaning ;-)
I think it refers to the Hunter S. Thompson quote:
"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride."
Basically meaning you may be getting in over your head, but you'll probably have a good story to tell if you don't end up dead. Similar to the idiom, "in for a penny, in for a pound."