25 Airlines That Have Never Had a Major Accident

Facts

With recent crashes getting so much media coverage, it’s easy to be scared into believing that air travel is getting more dangerous. However, statistics reflect that air travel remains incredibly safe.

In 2015, there were 560 airliner accident fatalities from 16 fatal airliner accidents. Of the 16, only five accidents resulted in more than 10 deaths — including three that received wall-to-wall media coverage: Metrojet 9268, Germanwings 9525 and TransAsia 235.

While each of these accidents was tragic and troubling, 2015 proved to be the “safest year ever” according to the Aviation Safety Network. Since 1945, there have never been fewer fatal airliner accidents, and 2015 was the year with the fifth-lowest number of total fatalities. It’s not an exaggeration to say that flying has never been safer than it is today.

That said, there’s a certain comfort in stepping on board an airline that has never had a major accident (or at least not in a long time). So, we dug into the aviation archives to find the airlines with the best safety records.

1.Qantas

Qantashas retained a flawless safety record - at least since 1952.

Qantas safety record is so famous that it was the counterpoint to the statement “All airlines have crashed at one time or another” in the 1988 movie Rain Man. In the 28 years since the movie, Qantas has retained its perfect record.

Now, technically Qantas hasn’t had a perfect record. Qantas has had 12 fatal crashes in its history, including two shoot-downs during World War II. That said, all of the crashes occurred before 1952 and involved propeller-driven aircraft.

Since then, Qantas has had a stellar safety record: no accident fatalities and no “hull loss” accidents — when the aircraft is damaged beyond economic repair. This is a incredible safety record for an airline that currently carries nearly 50 million passengers per year.

Not only has Qantas had a flawless record for more than 64 years, but it’s also the reigning “world’s safest airline” for the third year running.

2.Hawaiian Airlines

Here in the US, our gold standard is Hawaiian Airlines. Hawaiian Airlines — originally named Inter-Island Airways — has been in continuous operations since 1929 and has yet to have a single fatal accident or hull loss. This makes it the oldest US carrier to maintain this perfect record.

This feat is incredible, especially when you consider how many crashes occurred during the decades of early aviation. While flying was glamorous in that time period, it was far from safe. Yet, through that entire period, Hawaiian Airlines safely operated its fleet. Even through financial troubles that led to two bankruptcies (1993 and 2003), the airline never compromised on safety.

Hawaiian’s dedication to safety has earned it a well-deserved spot in AirlineRatings.com’s top 20 safest airlines for 2016. In 2015, the carrier safely delivered 10.7 million passengers to their destinations.

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