A new study highlighting aviation safety in Australia has found 2015 was the nation’s safest year for commercial air travel in a decade.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau research into aviation safety occurrences from 2006 to 2015 released on Wednesday found that only one person died in 2015  from nine commercial air transport accidents.

Of the nine accidents, down from 27 in 2014 and the lowest number recorded in the study period, one-third were charter operations and another third involved the high capacity air transport category in which major airlines sit.

Overall, Australia recorded 31 fatalities involving 28 aircraft in 2015 and 32 serious injuries involving a further 28 planes.  There were  227 aircraft involved in accidents and 185 involved in serious incidents that could have led to an accident.

Small aircraft in the general aviation sector were involved in 12 fatalities and 130 accidents, while recreational aviation recorded 18 fatalities from 76 accidents.

 “The majority of fatalities in the 10”‘year period occurred within general aviation, with around 20 per cent of fatal accidents resulting from a loss of control,” ATSB commissioner Greg Hood said.

Thousands of safety occurrences are reported to the ATSB every year and are analysed by safety investigators to uncover trends and see can be learned from them.

The number of incidents involving Australian-registered large airliners in the high capacity regular public transport category rose by about 40 per cent over the decade of the study, reflecting a 50 per cent rise in the rate of departures.

The report said the number of accidents in 2015 was consistent with the 10”‘year average but the number of serious incidents was significantly lower. The most commonly reported incidents were bird strikes 

Three accidents that year included a passenger seriously injured in turbulence encountered during a Brisbane-Sydney flight and another injured by an aircraft fitting during a flight from Sydney to Hobart.

An ATR-72 turboprop aircraft was also “substantially damaged’’ at Moranbah, Queensland, when high winds caused a wing strike.

There were four serious incidents, including one in which a Jetstar Airbus A321 took off from Melbourne outside the loading limits for the aircraft. The crew of an A320 from the same airline had taken off 10 days earlier from Brisbane with 16 more passengers than advised, resulting in a 1328kg discrepancy to the take-off weight.

Others included a fire on an A320 oven during descent into Sydney and a diversion into Darwin due to faulty flight instruments.

The number of incidents involving smaller airliners significantly declined over the decade, mainly due to a fall in flying activity.

The ATSB said the decline was a result of a trend towards the use of bigger aircraft for resource industry flying, a trend for regional carriers to use bigger airliners and the move by the big airlines on to regional routes.

There were no accidents in this category in 2015 and the five serious incidents were consistent with the 10-year average. Bird strikes were again the most commonly reported incidents.

Serious incidents damaged propellers from a multiple bird strike in NSW and a kangaroo in Queensland as well as an autopilot problem and a near miss, both also in Queensland.

The number of charter accidents —  generally the highest for the commercial air transport category —  was relatively stable over the decade but dropped significantly in 2015 to three, from 23 in 2014.

Birds were again the biggest problem and the incidents included a runway overrun by an Aero Commander 500-U at Badu Island off Queensland and a collision with terrain after a runway excursion in Western Australia.

Hood said that for all accidents, the highest accident rates occurred with recreational aeroplanes, followed by aerial agriculture, private/business and sports aviation, and recreational gyrocopters.

He was particularly concerned about the flying training accident rate per million hours flown in 2014, the latest available, which was more than double that of any year in the previous eight years.

“The increase in accident rates involving flying training is an emerging safety concern—we’ll continue to keep a close eye on this sector to get a better understanding of the safety issues involved,” Hood said.

Also on the rise was the number of remotely piloted aircraft accidents and incidents.

 “This has gone up from 14 occurrences in the eight years from 2006–2013 to 37 in 2014–2015,’’  he said.“Given the significant growth in the use of remotely piloted aircraft, it is likely that the number of incidents and accidents will continue to increase in the short term.”

Air France is offering some inexpensive opportunities to experience the first brand new aircraft type added to its fleet since the arrival of the Airbus A380 in 2009.

The carrier’s first Boeing 787-9 took over the  4.5-hour daily flight from Paris Charles De Gaulle  Airport to Cairo on January 9 but it will also initially be used on shorter routes in Europe.

The Dreamliner will move to long-haul service on the airline’s Paris-Montreal route on May 1 after the second of 16 787-9s arrives in spring. 

But there are opportunities to experience the newest addition to the Air France fleet on the cheap within Europe before that date.

 From February 6, flights AF1680/1681 between Paris and London-Heathrow and return will be flown by the first 787 (except on Wednesdays), with one-way economy fares offered at bargain prices as low as 66€.  

 With the deployment of the second aircraft, the airline is planning a round trip between Paris and Lyon in between flights to Canada to give flight crews an extra opportunity to rack up take-offs and landings.

The new plane highlights one of Air France’s weaknesses:  its inconsistent cabin product, particularly in business class.

 Its business product ranges from aging angled lie-flat seats, especially in the A340-300 fleet and on the 10 A380s delivered since 2009, to the revamped cabins of the Boeing 777s. 

The rollout of the newest 777 product started in June, 2014, and it will still take until December, 2017, before all aircraft have been refitted.   Currently, 44 of 68 Boeing 777-200ERs and -300ERs have been upgraded. 

The airline will also keep its A340s for some time — nine of the airline’s 11 A340-300s, some over 20 years old, will only be phased out within the next three years.

 Air France fleet director Nicolas Bertrand told Airline Ratings during a 787 demo flight that the plan was to replace them one by one with the incoming Dreamliners.

Because the ancient A340 cabins will continue to offer customers only a fraction of the comfort of the newer aircraft interiors, the biggest uncertainty surrounds the A380 fleet. 

“We are now making a plan and shall start retrofitting a new product from 2019”, says Bertrand, meaning that it will take at least until 2020, more than 10 years since the superjumbo’s   introduction, before passengers can expect to see enhanced A380 cabins matching the offerings of 777s or the 787.

The wild variety of product levels won’t be helped by the introduction of the first Airbus A350-900s at Air France, planned for September 2019.  While partner KLM took the first 787s in November 2015, and now has eight in service, Air France will take the lead with the A350s.

Air France’s Dreamliners offer 276 seats versus 294 on the 787-9s operated by KLM, the reason being that the Dutch don’t have a dedicated premium economy cabin. KLM has an “Economy Comfort” section, with an enhanced pitch of 35’’, that is otherwise an identical product to Economy.

 Air France takes pride in its new premium economy, which is making its debut on the 787s with a dedicated cabin (rows 11-12) with 21 seats in 2-3-2 configuration.

 “We use the Zodiac Airgo FX Premium seats and enhanced the pitch from 38’’ in our previous product to 40’’ now,’’ customer experience manager Fatou Gueye tells Airline Ratings. 

This is not the roomiest premium economy in the sky  —  JAL and China Airlines are offering up to 42’’ with the same seat hardware — but Air France’s newest product is easily among the best offerings  currently available, boasting a bigger recline of 130 degrees versus 123 degrees in the previous  fixed shell seats that were an industry innovation when introduced by the airline in 2009. 

 The screens for the 787’s in-flight entertainment system from Panasonic, as on the 777s, have been enlarged from nine inches to 11 inches.  Welcome innovations on the new product is the much larger foldout table, which can support a laptop easily, and new footrests which come up higher than previously to make the seat more comfortable for many passengers.

A new feature in the otherwise unchanged business cabin is a smallish bar corner in a space next to door 2L.  

The Air France 787 is also the first aircraft of the carrier’s 225-strong fleet to be wi-fi-enabled, a move that comes late compared to other international carriers such as Lufthansa or Emirates.

 “The technology wasn’t good enough, but now it is time,’’ says Bertrand.  Air France/KLM repeated this mantra and refused to sign up for on-board WiFi for years, allowing the competition to gain big advantages. 

The Panasonic eXConnect system using Ku-band satellites seems to work fairly well and fast, according to people who have used it on Air France’s 787 flights. 

However, the airline charges for data packages, the most customer-unfriendly solution, as passengers have no idea how fast their package is used up.

 Rather than offering a flat fee like Lufthansa, Air France charges from 5€ for 20MB, 10€ for 50MB and 30€ for 200MB. 

In September, Air France-KLM had signed with provider Gogo to equip a total of 124 long-haul aircraft of both carriers, 68 Boeing 777s and 15 Airbus A330s at Air France, but again only starting at the end of 2017.  

There is also no word on any plans for the A380.
 

Air New Zealand has confirmed that alliance partner United Airlines will move to a seasonal schedule this year on its Auckland-San Francisco route.

The Kiwi carrier said the move to stop flying to Auckland between April 17 and October 31 would allow United to better match capacity with seasonal demand.

However,  the US carrier will boost flights to Auckland by three a week during the busy summer months.

“Between April and October, all alliance services on the route will be operated by Air New Zealand, which will fly daily between Auckland and San Francisco,’’  AirNZ said. “United will resume flying daily on the route from November 2017, increasing to 10 services per week during the peak summer months of December – March, in addition to Air New Zealand’s operated services.

“Air New Zealand and United Airlines are committed to working together to provide customers with convenient year-round travel options between New Zealand and the United States.’’

The launch last July of United Boeing 787 service to Auckland after a long absence was originally seen as a pre-emptive strike against the Qantas-American alliance and as a way of deepening the partnership the Star Alliance carriers.

The United move comes as an increase in capacity on trans-Pacific routes in recent years which has kept airfares low.
 

Getting to a destination on time is an important factor for many travellers and nobody among the world’s top 200 mainline carriers did it better than Hawaiian Airlines in 2016.

The Hawaiian carrier significantly improved its position to move up from ninth to first place in the OAG Punctuality League listing the globe’s 20 most punctual airlines. It did so by operating 89.87 per cent of its flights on time.

Following Hawaiian’s lead were Latin America’s Copa Airlines (88.75 per cent), Dutch-based carrier KLM (87.89 per cent), Australia’s Qantas (87.56 per cent) and Japan Airlines (86.74 per cent).

The biggest carrier among the top 20 most punctual airlines was US-based  Delta Air Lines, which came 13th with 84.29 per cent of its flights on time.

“For an airline of this size, the fact that over 84 per cent of all flights arrived on time over a year is a remarkable achievement,’’ the report said.

Alaska Airlines, in seventh position with an on-time performance of 86.05 per cent, was the other US carrier to make the top 20.

The top five low-cost airlines were UK-based Monarch Airlines (85.67 per cent) GOL (84.63 per cent), Transvia (83.98 per cent), Jet2.com (82.64 per cent) and germanwings (82.48 per cent). Three airlines new to the LCC top 20 were Spring Airlines, Eurowings and Spirit Airlines.

The world’s biggest LCC, Southwest, was ranked seventh with an on-time performance of 81.04 per cent.

Regional winners were Qantas (Asia-Pacific), KLM (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Hawaiian (North America) and Sky Airline (Latin America).  
Winning airports were Newcastle in the UK (small airports), Birmingham (medium), Surabaya (large) and Tokyo Haneda (major).

OAG looks at the top 200 airlines globally and airports that handle 2.5 one-way million seats annually. It defines on-time performance as being within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of scheduled departure or arrival.

OAG executive vice president John Grant said the survey this year drew upon the biggest number of flights tracked in a single year.

“One of the few constants in our dynamic industry is the need for travellers to arrive at their destination or connecting airport on time,’’ he said.

"The 2016 OAG Punctuality League highlights just how successful we are at delivering on this key performance indicator. 

“Whether it is a 17-hour long-haul service or a one-hour connecting flight to a hub, the accuracy of both scheduling the service and delivering the stated on-time performance is incredible; especially when compared to so many other forms of transport.’’
 

The man who killed five people and injured six during a shooting rampage on Friday in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has been charged and could face the death penalty.

Esteban Santiago was charged with an act of violence at an international airport resulting in death, which carries the death penalty, and weapons offences.

Authorities have found no evidence during preliminary inquiries that 26-year-old Santiago was working with anybody else when he took out a pistol from his checked luggage and fired two clips of ammunition at passengers in the baggage claim area of the airport’s Terminal 2.

It has since been revealed that Santiago walked into an Alaskan FBI office in November and claimed his mind was being controlled by US intelligence agencies.His agitated and incoherent state rompted FBI agents to notify authorities, take the gun and order a mental health assessment.

But CNN reported he wasn’t considered disturbed enough to be prevented under Alaskan law from owning a gun and it was returned to him a month later. The news channel said this was the 9mm Walther pistol that was used to shoot the 11 people at the airport on Friday.

Santiago, a veteran of Iraq, has reportedly confessed to planning the attack but has yet to reveal why. 

He bought a one-way ticket to Fort Lauderdale and loaded the gun in a toilet stall. US federal prosecutors said he shot the first people he saw, aiming at their heads.

"Once he finished shooting, he walked down by Door 2, threw his gun on the ground, and laid down on the ground, spread-eagle, until the first officer came — which was probably a minute later," witness Mark Lea told MSNBC. "He was not shot at all, was not wounded."

Fort Lauderdale is serviced by about 30 airlines and is a popular destination because of the nearby cruise terminals. It services about 73,000 passengers a day.

Delta chief executive Ed Bastian, whose airline operates from terminal 2, expressed gratitude to first responders “who immediately went into action to evacuate our customers and employees’’.

 “The thoughts and prayers of the entire Delta family are with the people of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, and those involved in the tragic events today,” Bastian said.

Delta, which cancelled all flights to Fort Lauderdale on Friday, issued a waiver for customers travelling to and from Fort Lauderdale to change their travel plans free of charge.

Terminal 2 also remained closed on Saturday due to the ongoing investigation.

The shooting exposes a possible loophole in US security procedures as the baggage claim was outside the security perimeter at the airport.

The rise of social media is fueling the public’s perception that flying is not safe.

Thanks to mobiles, Facebook and other platforms, all aircraft problems, even the most insignificant, are broadcast to the world.

Yet last year the airline industry had the second safest year on record.

Every airline passenger or visitor to an airport is now a photojournalist or commentator. Last year more than two trillion digital photos were taken, 85 per cent of them on mobile phones.

Putting that number in perspective, in the history of print film only 2.5 trillion photos were taken, which means that almost as many photos were taken last year than in the entire history of the analogue camera business.

And if it’s not a photo, it’s a video with 300 hours uploaded to YouTube every minute and 5 billion videos watched each day. 

The last few seconds of the FlyDubai Boeing 737 crash in Russia in May captured on CCTV and the chaotic Emirates 777 passenger evacuation videos from August have been watched millions of times.

Add to that coverage the extremely popular Mayday (Air Crash Investigation / Air Diasters) TV series is in its 16th season (140 episodes) with a 17th announced for another 10 episodes.

The series is seen in over 150 countries and in 26 languages and is a huge hit with a fascinated public.

Compounding the perception that flying is not safe is the understandable continuous coverage of missing flight MH370, which disappeared almost three years ago, in the Southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia.

Numerous MH370 debris finds by wreck-hunters such as Blaine Gibson garner massive attention across the globe with each discovery fueling new theories as to what happened to the aircraft. 

And the long-running investigation into the shoot down of MH17 in June, 2014, is still to reach a conclusion as to the culprits. 

According to German airline Lufthansa’s research, up to 70 per cent of passengers have some fear of flying, and for more than 30 per cent of travellers an airline’s safety record is the major consideration when booking.

But the industry’s numbers for 2016 are amazing.

Only 19 fatal accidents involving 325 deaths when the industry carried 3.7 billion passengers on 36 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association estimates.

Flashback 52 years ago, there were a staggering 87 crashes killing 1597 globally when airlines carried only 141 million passengers — just under 4 per cent of today’s number.

There is no question flying is safer and one of the reasons is the International Air Transport Association’s Operational Safety Audit introduced in 2003.

Since then, 409 airlines have completed the comprehensive audit and those airlines’ crash rate is 77 per cent lower than airlines that do not do the audit.

Completing IOSA every two years is a condition of joining IATA, the leading industry body.

An IOSA audit examines every aspect of an airline’s safety — on the ground and in the air — and ensures it has industry best practice with a continuous expert safety review process. It also ensures the airline has the systems to keep up with the latest safety developments.

International airfares on key routes from Australia look set to stay at bargain levels this year as full-service carriers battle it out in a competitive environment that includes an increased presence by Chinese airlines.

Travel agent Flight Centre is advertising return economy fares as low as $A1136 return between Sydney and London, $A899 return to Los Angeles and $A1099 to New York.

Perth people get an even better deal with advertised fares as low as $A879 return to Los Angeles, $A1079 return to New York and $A1089 to London.

Dubai-based Emirates joined the fray today with a New Year sale offering return economy class fares from Australia as low as $A1299 to Europe and $A1399 to the UK.

The Emirates fares, for travel from February 1 to November 30, come as the International Air Transport Association has predicted that global air fares will continue to fall in real terms this year as increased global flight frequencies see 73 aircraft depart each minute.

IATA is predicting the average return fare this year will be $US351 before surcharges and taxes, or 63 per cent lower than 22 years ago when adjusted for inflation.

That compares with an average return fare of $US363 in 2016 and $US407 in 2015.

Chinese carriers remain the full-service fare leaders on European routes with pricing only a few hundred dollars more than the no-frills economy launch fares to Athens — $A738 return from Perth and $838 return from Sydney — offered by low-cost carrier Scoot.  Singapore-based Scoot is due to launch European services in June, followed by Kuala Lumpur’s AirAsia X in October. 

Top-tier airlines such as Emirates, Etihad, Singapore and Qantas are not far behind with all of them offering attractive economy fares below $1500 return

As with all great deals, however, there are caveats.

The most important is the likelihood of limited availability —sale fares come on a first come, first served basis and those that tarry miss out. Travellers often discover that those tantalisingly cheap advertised prices are impossible to find.

Nonetheless, two booking queries on flights to London from Sydney and Perth in May showed a good choice of airlines offering economy tickets for less than $1500 return.   The bookings were not finalised so a final check on availability was not done and the fares, rounded to the nearest dollar, are indicative only. They also do not include the website’s  fees.

For a Perth-London trip leaving on May 9 and returning May 25, China Southern was  offering a return economy fare of $A1092, Etihad  started at $A1215, Virgin Australia/Singapore Airlines came in at  $A1277, Thai International  at $A1430, Malaysia Airlines $A1438, Qantas $A1459 and Emirates $A1475.

For the same trip to and from Sydney, Air China came in at $A1062, China Southern started at $A1147, Air India was $A1232 and Singapore Airlines/Virgin Australia were at $A1295.

Korean Air offered a return fare of $A1342, China Eastern $1395 while a group of airlines, including Emirates and Qantas, were in the band between $A1400 and $A1500.

Travelers also need to check restrictions on the dates or the routes you can fly and the time you have to wait between connections. The latter can make a considerable difference to the time spent travelling — a one-way,  outbound leg on a Sydney-London trip estimated to take just under 23 hours on Singapore Airlines was listed as almost 43 hours on Korean Air.

Other pitfalls include seats that are more cramped than expected,  fares that may not cover some “extras” and aircraft changes at hubs.

An Emirates Airbus A380 is a comfortable way to fly but it can be a shock to then switch to the 10-across seating on one of its Boeing 777s. It can be even more disturbing to discover that big US airlines have small regional commuter planes on unexpected routes.

Then there’s safety. Airlines servicing Australia are required to meet minimum safety standards but some have better track records than others.
AirlineRatings has a comprehensive database assessing airline safety and has picked the 20 safest from the 425 it monitors.