These Are the World’s Safest Airlines

07.11.2023 - 23:17 / afar.com / Willie Walsh / Airlines

Amid all the recent headlines about aviation safety lapses and a troubling rise in close calls, it’s easy to forget that commercial air travel has never been safer.

In fact, fatal crashes on a commercial jet plane are extremely rare, thanks in large part to major innovations in aircraft technology and crew training over the years (often prompted by major accidents, such as TWA 800 and Air France 447). In 2022, there were only five fatal accidents among 32.2 million flights, down from seven in 2021 and an improvement on the five-year average for 2018 through 2022, which was also seven, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

When compared with driving, air travel is hands down the safer way to get from point A to point B. In 2022, while there were 158 fatalities from airplane crashes globally, there were nearly 43,000 fatalities resulting from road accidents in the United States alone.

“Flying is among the safest activities in which a person can engage,” stated IATA director general Willie Walsh. He added, “But even though the risk of flying is exceptionally low, it is not risk-free. Careful analysis of the trends that are emerging even at these very high levels of safety is what will make flying even safer.”

For instance, not all airlines and governments have the same high level of vigilance when it comes to safety practices. Walsh cited turboprop operations in Africa and Latin America as a special area of concern.

Experts say that having a set of strong regulations in place is essential. “Countries that have serious government oversight, and whose airlines closely monitor pilot performance and maintenance for problems that occur, have an accident rate that is outstanding,” says John Goglia, an aviation consultant and former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

For those who want to ensure they’re flying with the safest carrier, here’s how the world’s airlines stack up.

Each year, the Australian aviation safety and product review site, AirlineRatings.com, ranks the world’s safest airlines based on a seven-point rating system. The company monitors 385 airlines worldwide and its methodology takes into account factors that include accidents that have occurred in the past five years, serious incidents (those with the potential for a catastrophic outcome) in the past two years, public and private safety audits, and the age of the fleet. A carrier’s ranking also considers the number of passengers flown and the number of sectors (each takeoff and landing), which tends to favor airlines that operate a high proportion of long-haul flights.

“All airlines have incidents every day, and many are aircraft or engine manufacturing problems, not airline operational problems. It