Being the world’s best or punctual airline deserves kudos. But being the world’s safest airline might be the most covted accolade.
So give it up for Qantas, which just topped the AirlineRatings.com rankings of the world’s safest fliers for the seventh year in a row (although the Australian airline tied with 20 airlines last year, when no clear winner was announced).
To determine the safety standards, AirlineRatings.com looks at crash and serious incident records, government and aviation body audits, fleet age, pilot training and more.
Qantas was singled out for its “development of Future Air Navigation System; the flight data recorder to monitor plane and later crew performance; automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System as well as precision approaches around mountains in the cloud using RNP.” It was also the lead airline for real-time monitoring of its engines across the fleet using satellite communications.
The only U.S.-based airline in the top 10 rankings was Alaska, which came in eighth. Hawaiian Airlines ranked 11th, the only other American entry in the top 20. Delta, a previous entry, did not make the list. One possible reason: incidents of intoxicated pilots, as AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas told CNN.
The top 10:
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