According to the Aviation Safety Network, 2025 was not the best year for aviation safety: An estimated 548 people were killed across 157 incidents; 2 of them accounted for 56 percent of those deaths.
These include a January 2025 crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. military helicopter at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in which 67 people were killed. That was followed by a deadly Air India crash shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in June 2025 in which all 242 people aboard and 19 people on the ground were killed.
These aviation accidents are undeniably tragic. Still, it’s important to take the number of fatalities and incidents into context: According to Airports Council International, in 2025, it’s estimated that nearly 10 billion people flew on more than 100 million flights. Proportionally, fatal air crashes are still extremely rare, thanks in large part to major improvements in technology and crew training over the years (often prompted by major accidents, such as TWA 800 in 1996 and Air France 447 in 2009).
And compared with driving, air travel is hands down the safer way to get from point A to point B. Between January and September 2025 (the most recent data available), the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that there were approximately 27,365 deaths from road accidents in the U.S. alone.
John Cox, CEO of aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems and a longtime pilot, says a culture of strong government oversight is essential when evaluating an airline’s overall record. “Pick your airline carefully,” he says. “Just because the fare is low, doesn’t mean it’s the best choice.”
Indeed, not all airlines and governments have the same high level of vigilance when it comes to safety practices. For those who want to ensure they’re flying with the safest carrier, here’s how the world’s airlines stack up.
How the world’s safest airlines are ranked
Each year, the Australian aviation safety and product review site AirlineRatings.com ranks the safest airlines based on a seven-point rating system. The company monitors 300-plus airlines worldwide and its methodology considers factors that include accidents that have occurred in the past five years, serious incidents (those with the potential for a catastrophic outcome) in the past two years, public and private safety audits, and the age of the fleet. Each airline is rated on a scale of one to seven “stars”; a carrier’s ranking also considers the number of passengers flown and the number of sectors (each takeoff and landing), which tends to favor airlines that operate a high proportion of long-haul flights.
Last year, Air New Zealand topped the world’s safest airlines ranking, but this year it fell to number six. Yet Etihad’s rise to the top is not because Air New Zealand isn’t safe; in releasing the 2026 rankings, Airline Ratings’ CEO Sharon Petersen said, “Etihad achieved this through a combination of factors: a young fleet, advancements in cockpit safety, particularly around turbulence, a crash-free history, and the lowest incident rate per flight of any airline on the list. The airline also participated in our independent onboard safety audit and demonstrated excellent adherence to turbulence management in the cabin.”
Of the top 25 airlines, 3 are U.S. carriers, with the rest hailing from the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Western Europe, and Canada. There’s also a separate list for low-cost carriers, which this year includes U.S. companies JetBlue and Southwest.
The world’s 25 safest airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Emirates
- Air New Zealand
- Singapore Airlines
- EVA Air
- Virgin Australia
- Korean Air
- STARLUX
- Turkish Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
- Alaska Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
- British Airways
- Vietnam Airlines
- Iberia
- Lufthansa
- Air Canada
- Delta Air Lines¹
- American Airlines²
- Fiji Airways
1. Excludes subsidiary Endeavor Air
2. Excludes subsidiaries Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines
So, what does all this mean for consumers? Even representatives at Airline Ratings concede that the differences among airlines when it comes to safety can be minuscule. After all, most major global airlines—not just those that make the top 25—typically score seven stars overall, with other details, such as the age of the fleet, ultimately influencing where the carrier lands on the list.
As Petersen said in a statement released with the 2026 rankings, “We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality. All airlines in the top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false.”
Consumers are advised to check each individual carrier’s ranking at airlineratings.com/airlines to see where their airline stands and to be able to make an informed decision about flight safety.
This article was originally published in 2023 and most recently updated on February 6, 2026, with current information. Sophie Friedman contributed to the reporting of this story.
