AirlineRatings has been evaluating airline safety since 2013, providing an independent rating of commercial airlines around the world. The top 20 for safest airlines have just been released and include some of my favorites, like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. Other premium airlines, like Cathay Pacific and Eithad are also on the list!
AirlineRatings combines the results of the IOSA airline audit, required to join IATA, the world’s airline association, the ICOA country audit as well as their own audits, EU and US blacklists for questionable airlines and fatalities. While this rating isn’t perfect, it’s the best independent and transparent evaluation out there and I include it in all my airline reviews!
Without further ado, here is the full list of the top 20 safest airlines in 2018 (in alphabetical order)
- Air New Zealand
- Alaska Airlines
- All Nippon Airways
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- EVA Air
- Finnair
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Qantas
- Royal Jordanian Airlines
- Scandinavian Airline System
- Singapore Airlines
- Swiss
- Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Australia
Special mention goes to Qantas, which has been at the forefront of airline safety innovations and has had never had a fatal accident in the jet age. The same is true for Finnair and Hawaiian who are fatality free.
But that does not make them “the safest” among these top 20 and AirlineSafetyRatings did not award Qantas as the safest (like some sources are falsely reporting!). Incidents happen in air traffic every day and what makes these 20 airlines stand out is how the pilots and staff handle those incidents, based on their training, experience and airline policy!
Missing from the list are the big 3 US airlines, Delta, United and American, who regularly miss out on the “safest” and “best” award lists. If you are still flying these airlines internationally, you might want to consider better and safer alternatives from the list above!
You can read the full award report at AirlineRatings and find out more about how ratings are made !
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