We're getting old, folks...

Is there anything that could make Mary unwilling to fly?

Of course there is. You named a few examples, but even if you couldn't
think of any, Nature would oblige.

Medical: besides inner ear, there are vascular conditions, tumors,
nerve issues, urinary conditions, disorienting eye conditions, a
plethora of things that could make it uncomfortable, inadvisable, or
even dangerous to fly, even as a passenger...

Psychological: the obvious fear after an incident, but also an old
association coming back, changed values in a risk-reward equation, a
newfound joy in driving in traffic (or an accompanying need for time for
solitary reflection), a new hobby (winemaking, for example), the stress
of taking care of other issues, for which flying does not provide an
outlet...

Legal (the following may seem silly until you've actually been faced
with other, equally silly things that have the force of law): A law or
insurance regulation prohibiting two or more corporate officers from
flying together, Mary getting on the terrorist no-fly list (if it can
happen to a United States Senator, it can happen to you)...

Social: taking care of an elderly parent who does not want her to fly
(and who becomes much harder to deal with if she does fly), a social (or
business) calendar that pretty much requires her to stay in her home
town, a new lack of allure for distant places...

Economic:... I could go on, but won't, because it doesn't matter.

Either way, I would work very hard to help her through it.

What does this mean? If she =wanted= to fly but was unable to because
of some conditons, this may help. But if the condition is such that she
no longer =wants= to fly, then "helping her through it" really means
"helping her see it my way" (the One True Way), and is likely to have
Unintended Consequences.

But it doesn't matter =why= she couldn't or wouldn't fly any more. Take
that as a given. She won't. How does this affect your relationship
with her? With flying?

Now suppose whatever it was that happened, happened while you were
dating. Would you dump her and go looking for another girl at some hangar?

The main
advantage of owning and flying an airplane, to me anyway, is the ability to
transport my family to far-away places quickly and in great comfort. If all
I could was bore holes in the sky by myself, I would become quickly bored.

This is interesting coming from somebody who, not too long ago, was
touting aviation as the be-all and the end-all of life. To many people,
flying in an airplane is just boring holes in the sky. Going places
quickly ends up being not so quick when you add in the time spent flight
planning, preflighting (and preheating), dealing with distant FBOs, and
then add in all the hidden time (keeping current, for example). You get
to rearrange when you spend time, but the time savings in a spam can is
somewhat illusory.

At that stage I would probably sell Atlas, buy a Decathlon, and get into
recreational aerobatic flying.

Recreational aerobatic flying is also just boring holes in the sky.
Twisty holes to be sure, but holes nonetheless. And it could be that
Mary (reasonably) would not want you to partake of this (more dangerous)
part of aviation. I suppose it's not likely coming from the motorcycle
crowd, but it's possible (just imagine a slightly different Mary for
purposes of argument).

Same question.

To answer your original question, there is much more to human
relationships than sharing a cockpit, and love, if it's worth anything,
trumps flying. It certainly trumps "the ability to transport my family
to far-away places quickly and in great comfort".

Jose
--
You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
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