At AirlineRatings, we believe airline safety should be visible, recognised, accessible, and celebrated. We exist to bring aviation safety data from world-leading sources such as IOSA, ICAO, the FAA, and EASA, as well as the airlines themselves, to the traveller in an easy-to-understand format that helps them make informed choices about their safety in the air.

Alongside our daily monitored safety ratings are our annual Safety and World’s Best Airline Rankings, which have always served as a guide for passengers, highlighting the very best in aviation. These two announcements alone across all digital networks garners hundred of millions of views, so we know what we do is important and we will always strive to make it better and more transparent.

With this in mind, we are taking a step further with the launch of our own Onboard Safety Audits, designed to be customer-centric and focused on the onboard safety experience. These audits further our service to our travelling community and an airline’s customers.

Airlines that already excel in safety and hold a Seven Star safety rating who successfully complete these anonymous audits, conducted over six flights (including a mix of overnight, day, domestic, international, short-haul, and long-haul journeys), will earn special recognition as a Seven Star Plus airline, the highest accolade we now offer. Airlines not yet at seven stars will be carefully reviewed after the audit, helping set a clear path toward excellence and an increase in their rating. Through these audits, we once again take safety information and present it to a global audience in an easy-to-understand manner.

Our motto, “Guiding you to the safest and best value airline for every journey,” is at the very core of everything we do at AirlineRatings.

Benefit of the AirlineRatings Safety Audits for Travellers

With around 40% of flyers feeling nervous, anxious, or even terrified at the thought of flying, AirlineRatings’ onboard safety audits provide an added layer of reassurance. While passengers may not see the incredible work that goes into maintaining an aircraft and ensuring airline safety, what they do experience—the “face of safety”—is what happens onboard. Airlines that complete and pass these audits give nervous passengers an extra piece of mind.

For a nervous passenger travelling on an airline they aren’t familiar with outside their home market, flying is always a source of anxiety. Our safety ratings and onboard safety audits again help reassure the traveller when choosing to book flights on airlines they simply do not know.

In addition to this, whilst we are not there to assess maintenance and repair facilities, etc., often once an audit is complete (and we no longer have to be anonymous) we are invited by the airline to learn more, which again allows us to apply more information towards our ratings, ensuring they remain accurate and transparent.

Benefit of the AirlineRatings Safety Audits for Airlines

AirlineRatings’ onboard safety audits deliver multiple benefits for carriers. Firstly, and most importantly, they help identify and close any compliance gaps by pinpointing areas where international safety standards may not be fully met, allowing airlines to address issues simply and easily before they become regulatory problems. Within a week of completion, airlines receive a professional, actionable report detailing findings, risk levels, and tailored recommendations from our auditor.

With our aim being to make aviation safety easy to understand and recognisable, AirlineRatings provides new branding as well as certifications of achievement to airlines that complete the audit. This branding will also be reflected alongside the airlines on our own website and across our social channels. Airlines that complete the audits will also receive extra consideration in AirlineRatings’ prestigious World’s Safest Airline Awards. This not only enhances consumer confidence but also provides a commercial advantage, particularly among international travellers who may be less familiar with the airline’s brand.

For low-cost airlines, these audits are yet another way we can help them break the stigma that low-cost carriers are “less safe”—something we know simply isn’t true, yet remains a point that irks every low-cost carrier CEO.

With our first four audits already locked in and ready to go, AirlineRatings is set to take airline safety to a new level of visibility, recognition, and transparency.

More information please contact

Safety and Service Quality Manager Josh Wood at [email protected]

or

CEO Sharon Petersen at [email protected]