Hawaiian Airlines is the oldest airline in the world that has never experienced an accident. Of course, the company has had its fair share of safety-related incidents. In 2000, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 overran a runway in Tahiti.
Scroll down for a full list of carriers never to have had a fatal accident.
According to the AirAdvisor Airline Safety Score, Allegiant, American, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit Airlines are all the safest. Each had a perfect accident record in 2023 and 2024 with no reported incidents based on data from IATA.
Air New Zealand has been named the world's safest airline for 2025, narrowly beating Qantas by just 1.5 points, according to AirlineRatings.com's annual review of 385 carriers. A three-way tie followed for third between Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Air France and American Airlines have the most plane crashes, with 11 air crashes each. However, two plane crashes associated with American Airlines happened on September 11th, 2001.
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She argues that landings are riskier than takeoffs due to fewer escape options. “It's a really critical moment, especially for midair collisions and other incidents,” Schiavo emphasized. “When you're taking off, you have the runway in front of you.
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Qantas: The Australian flag carrier consistently ranks among the safest airlines globally, boasting a long history of safety and operational excellence. Cathay Pacific / Qatar Airways / Emirates (Three-way tie): These three airlines were jointly recognized for their exceptional safety records.
Hawaiian Airlines – Founded in 1929, never had a fatal accident. EVA Air (Taiwan) – No hull-loss or passenger fatalities since inception in 1989. Virgin Australia & Virgin Atlantic – Both have zero fatal crashes in their histories.
The deliberate crashes of the aforementioned American Airlines Flight 11, as well as United Airlines Flight 175 at the World Trade Center, and the subsequent collapse of both towers on 11 September 2001 caused 2,606 ground fatalities in addition to the deaths of the 157 people on board both flights, making it the ...
– Data suggests that sitting in the middle of a row is the safest place to be. Is the seat located at the front or the back of the aircraft? – A seat in economy would be the safest place in the extremely rare event of a crash since the rear of the plane is less likely to be the first impact.
Unfortunately, Frontier Airlines takes the top spot as the least reliable airline in the U.S. with a total score of 79.92 out of 100.
Qantas' last fatality was in 1951 when a Drover prop aircraft crashed in PNG. Qantas started operating jets in 1959 and has never had a fatal accident since then.
On 3 August 2016, the aircraft, carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew, crashed while landing at Dubai International Airport.
Hawaiian Airlines
Since its founding in 1929, Hawaiian has never had a fatal accident involving passengers on a scheduled commercial flight.
Earlier this year AirlineRatings.com, “the world's only airline safety and product rating website”, announced Air New Zealand as the top of its list, followed by Qantas, with Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Emirates equal third and Virgin Australia finishing in fourth.
Iceland is consistently ranked as the #1 safest country in the world by the Global Peace Index (GPI), a position it has held for over a decade due to extremely low crime, no standing army, high social cohesion, and minimal conflict, though some other reports might place Switzerland or the Netherlands first based on different survey criteria.
Pilot error is the number one cause of aviation accidents. Piloting an aircraft requires lengthy training, a knowledge of the mechanical components of an aircraft, and hand-eye coordination skills to effectively and safely maneuver an aircraft. Pilots also have to think ahead.
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6 ASEAN Airlines Ranked as the World's Best Airlines in 2026 The 10 Best Airlines in the World in 2025, as Voted by Passengers Worldwide, are: 1. Qatar Airways 2. Singapore Airlines 3. Cathay Pacific 4.
American Airlines is the largest carrier in the United States, filling 151.7 million seats (via OAG) in 2025. So, it's no surprise that this airline would have the largest amount of luggage lost in terms of absolute numbers.
The middle seat at the back of the plane was found to be the safest with a 28% fatality rate, while the worst was the middle aisle seat with a 44% fatality rate.
Turbulence during the middle of a long haul flight . Especially when you are in the middle of nowhere or water. Having turbulence during take off or landing is “expected” but during hour 7 on a 12 hour flight? Always think the worst is about to happen.
Safety. “Is it safer to travel by plane or by car?" is a question that's been around since the beginning of commercial aviation. Statistically, flying is significantly safer than driving.