Final answer:
Planes are carefully regulated by the FAA to maintain safe distances, and use transponders and radar to keep track of their positions, ensuring they do not collide.
Step-by-step explanation:
The flight paths of commercial airliners are meticulously managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure that planes do not collide with each other. For the safety of all flights involved, there are strict regulations requiring each airplane to maintain a minimum distance of five miles from another plane at the same altitude, and there must be a vertical separation of 2,000 feet or 1,000 feet depending on the altitude. In addition to physical distance regulations, plane safety is also enhanced through the use of radar and transponder technology. Aircraft are equipped with transponders that emit a signal received by radar systems, allowing air traffic controllers to monitor and coordinate aircraft positions even in visually challenging conditions such as bad weather or heavy cloud cover. The required Mode C transponder equipped with an automatic pressure altitude reporting capability enables this precise monitoring, and without such equipment, operation within certain classes of airspace is prohibited.