Nope, not buying it.

And the skateboard and cars passing each other are poor analogies.

To me this is no different then being on a bike thats on a treadmill. The treadmill moves backwards at the same speed my wheels move forward.

If you come up behind me and push me, and the treadmill compensates for the added forward motion (as the original problem states), I will stay in the same place.

To me, thats what the plane and its thrust do.