AirlineRatings.com  also announced its Top Twenty safest airlines and ten safest low-cost airlines for 2019 from the 405 it monitors.

In making its evaluation,  AirlineRatings.com takes into account a comprehensive range of factors that include: audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies; government audits; airline’s crash and serious incident record; profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, and fleet age.

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READ: World’s safest aircraft for 2019. 

In selecting Qantas as the world’s safest airline for 2019,  AirlineRatings.com editors noted that over its 98-year history the world’s oldest continuously operating airline has amassed an amazing record of firsts in operations and safety and is now accepted as the industry’s most experienced airline. *

READ: Qantas continues its amazing safety achievements 

The Australian airline has been a leader in the 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 cloud using RNP.  Qantas was the lead airline with real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite communications, which has enabled the airline to detect problems before they become a major safety issue.

The AirlineRatings.com Top Twenty safest airlines have always been at the forefront of safety innovation, launching of new aircraft and they have become a byword for excellence.

THE TOP 20 SAFEST AIRLINES FOR 2019

Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, and United Airlines, and the Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia), .

According to AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas, these airlines are standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft.

TOP 10 SAFEST LOW-COST AIRLINES FOR 2019

Responding to the public interest, the AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their Top 10 safest low-cost airlines. These are in alphabetical order: Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia / Asia, Thomas Cook, Volaris, Vueling, Westjet and Wizz.

Unlike a number of low-cost carriers, these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellent safety records.  To arrive at its Top Twenty,  AirlineRatings.com takes into account the most important factors for safety. These include audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations; government audits; airline’s crash and serious incident record; and the fleet age.

READ: What makes a safe airline?

Mr Thomas said the site only looked at serious incidents in making its determinations.

“All airlines have incidents every day and many are aircraft manufacture issues, not airline operational problems,’ he said. “It is the way the flight crew handles incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one. So just lumping all incidents together is very misleading.”

“And some countries incident reporting systems are weak further complicating matters.”

READ: The World’s First Country and Airline Safety Comparison Tool

AirlineRatings.com also announced its lowest ranked (one and two stars) airlines which are: Ariana Afghan Airlines, Bluewing Airlines, Kam Air, and Trigana Air Service.

AirlineRatings was launched in June 2013 and rates the safety and in-flight product of 405 airlines using its unique seven-star rating system. It has been used by millions of passengers from 232 countries and has become the industry standard for safety and product rating. The editorial team is one of the world’s most experienced with almost 50 international and national awards. They have also authored or co-authored more than 28 industry books.

* British Advertising Standards Association ruling 2008

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The annual Boeing Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents Worldwide Operations 1959-2018 lists the following aircraft as having a fatality free record: Boeing 717 (formerly the MD95), CRJ700/900/1000 regional jet, A380 superjumbo, Boeing 787, Boeing 747-8, Airbus A350, Bombardier C Series, A340 and the Airbus A320 NEO series.

It should be noted that the CSeries and A320NEO have only recently started deliveries so the in-service numbers are small.

READ: World’s safest airlines for 2019

Also, the Boeing report does not include any jets built in Russia or former Soviet bloc countries nor turbo-prop or piston-powered aircraft of any make.

Other aircraft that have excellent safety records are the Boeing 737NG series with 0.08 fatal crashes per one million departures (PMD), the Boeing 767 (0.10), the Airbus A320 series (0.10), the Boeing 777 (0.18), the Boeing 757 (0.20) and the Airbus A330 (0.19).

These accident rates are a fraction of those recorded by the first jets such as the Boeing 707, which has a fatal crash rate of 4.28 per million departures.

Even the early models of the mighty 747 had a crash rate of 1.46.

READ: What does it take to make our top twenty safest airlines?

The Boeing report also shows up how a range of technologies, such as sophisticated, highly computerized cockpits, have dramatically improved aircraft safety.

Take the world’s most successful jet, the Boeing 737, with over 14,300 sold, which was first introduced to service in 1967s. The initial models had a fatal crash rate of 0.89 PMD.

The upgraded 737-300/400/500 (Classics) which appeared in 1984 had a crash rate of 0.25, while the 737 NG (New Generation) models which entered service in 1998, have a crash rate of just 0.08.

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AirlineRatings.com was launched in 2013 to bring together all the elements that can be counted to give passengers for the first time a truly objective guide to which airlines are the safest.

See AirlineRatings.com unique safety tool 

The safety rating for each airline is based on a comprehensive analysis utilizing information from the world’s aviation governing body and leading association along with governments and crash data.

Each airline has the potential to earn seven stars.

There are two major audits and the first and most important is the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) which is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline.

If an airline passes this audit it gets three stars.

IOSA uses over 1000 audit parameters and airlines are re-evaluated every two years.

And airline must pass IOSA to belong to IATA, the leading industry association.

The other major audit is conducted by the governing body of aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

This audit covers a country’s infrastructure and regulation that supports its airline system.

The eight ICAO audit parameters that pertain to safety are; Legislation, Organization, Licensing, Operations, Airworthiness, Accident Investigation, Air Navigation Service and Aerodromes.

If a country exceeds the average compliance of all eight ICAO safety parameters, its airlines get one star.

However, if one criterion is below the average by less than 15 percent it is considered a pass. If the country only meets up to four criteria no star is given.

Airlines gain a star if they are not on the EU Blacklist.

The EU developed a banned list after concerns about a number of airlines.

Likewise, the US also has a banned list which relates to countries and a star is added if the airline’s country is approved.

A star is also added if the airline has maintained a fatality-free record for the prior 10 years.

AirlineRatings.com does not include incidents in its rating system, because not all countries report them and incidents happen to all airlines every day. Most are minor in nature and it is the way pilots handle an incident that is critical.

However, in making its assessment of the Top Twenty safest airlines, AirlineRatings.com conducts additional audits that include areas such as an airline’s fleet age, profitability, and major incidents.

Typically, only those airlines with an average fleet age of 15 years and under are considered.

The editors and our consultant pilots also review an airline’s history of innovation, sponsoring and the introduction of new aircraft, and pilot training in making the final selections.

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