Qantas has been named the world’s safest airline for 2017 by AirlineRatings.com, marking the fourth consecutive year it’s secured this top spot. AirlineRatings.com is the only website dedicated to safety and product ratings in the aviation industry. They reviewed 425 airlines globally and announced their top 20 safest airlines and the top 10 safest low-cost airlines for 2017.
Since its launch in 2013, AirlineRatings.com has been evaluating global airlines based on multiple criteria, including incident records, profitability, fleet age, and audits conducted by aviation authorities and governments. The 20 airlines they found to be the safest are listed alphabetically.
In deciding these rankings, the site’s experienced editorial team considered various factors such as audits from major aviation authorities and associations, government audits, records of accidents and serious incidents, financial health, and the age of the airline’s fleet. They also examined each airline’s history of adopting new safety technologies to finalize the top 20 safest airlines.
The airlines on this list come from Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe, with no representatives from Africa or South America. This top-20 list includes only major carriers; low-cost or boutique airlines like JetBlue, Virgin America, Norwegian, and EasyJet were evaluated separately.
Despite several high-profile accidents, 2016 was one of the safest years in aviation history, according to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN). ASN, which keeps an independent database of air travel incidents, reported 19 fatal accidents in 2016, resulting in 325 deaths, which equates to one death per 10,769,230 travelers. Only 2013 had fewer fatalities, with 265 recorded deaths.
Historically, the deadliest year in aviation was 1972, which saw 2,370 deaths and 72 fatal accidents. AirlineRatings.com’s 2017 survey of 425 airlines revealed that 148 airlines received its highest safety rating of seven stars. However, almost 50 airlines scored three stars or fewer. Notably, 14 airlines received just a single star, all of which are based in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Nepal, or Surinam.