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Least safe American airlines?

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  • Least safe American airlines?

    This is my first post here. I have this thing where I'm afraid to fly on any American airline, although I have multiple times within the U.S. Now I am considering flying across the Atlantic on one but am kind of scared...I almost want to shell out the extra couple hundred to fly BA. Am I just being paranoid? Which ones are the least safe?

  • #2
    Originally posted by sea View Post
    This is my first post here. I have this thing where I'm afraid to fly on any American airline, although I have multiple times within the U.S. Now I am considering flying across the Atlantic on one but am kind of scared...I almost want to shell out the extra couple hundred to fly BA. Am I just being paranoid? Which ones are the least safe?
    Well to be honest, the safest airline in the free world to my knowledge is Qantas which has never lost an aircraft. In regards to US airlines, I have flown on many both current and defunct. The safest place on the planet to fly is North America and Europe. The airlines all have a specific set of guidelines for safety by which they all must adhere to. I wouldn't concern yourself!
    Who's on first?..........

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    • #3
      Originally posted by canair67 View Post
      I wouldn't concern yourself!
      I concur that. I worry more about convenience (on time performance and entertainment).

      My 2cents adivce ... avoid Air India .

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      • #4
        At least with regard to US airlines conducting international flights, they are all extremely safe with excellent records. There is no point whatever in trying to distinguish between them on safety grounds.

        On Qantas, it is of course a myth that they have never lost an aircraft - they have lost at least two, but both were many decades ago. They have certainly never lost a passenger. They are a fine safe airline, but I am not sure these much repeated comments about Qantas are entirely valid given that Qantas is relatively small as an airline - their daily departure number over the years has been substantially lower than many of the big North American, European and Asian carriers.

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        • #5
          I don't think there really is an airline company in N-America which is really unsafe.
          If you really are wondering about safety , go and fly around in Central Africa, as a youngster I flew on an inland flight with Air Zaire once, better known as "air Peut-être" ==> Peut-être on arrive, Peut-être pas , (translated : maybe we arrive, maybe not ).
          Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

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          • #6
            Qantas has never had a fatality on a jet aircraft, but it has had fatalities on propeller aircraft over 50 years ago.

            Originally posted by HalcyonDays View Post
            On Qantas, it is of course a myth that they have never lost an aircraft - they have lost at least two, but both were many decades ago. They have certainly never lost a passenger. They are a fine safe airline, but I am not sure these much repeated comments about Qantas are entirely valid given that Qantas is relatively small as an airline - their daily departure number over the years has been substantially lower than many of the big North American, European and Asian carriers.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by sea View Post
              This is my first post here. I have this thing where I'm afraid to fly on any American airline, although I have multiple times within the U.S. Now I am considering flying across the Atlantic on one but am kind of scared...I almost want to shell out the extra couple hundred to fly BA. Am I just being paranoid? Which ones are the least safe?
              To put your fear of U.S. registered airline safety into perspective you need to figure out what caused you to come to that opinion about safety in the first place.

              All North American airlines, all Western European airlines, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Singapore, Cathay Pacific and JAL rank about equally in my mind. I have flown most of them without concern for corporate safety culture or regulatory inadequacy. There are some other countries with national airlines that rank very well, Thai and MAS to name two, there are others. Most of the Middle East airlines are fine.

              With the exception of SAA I stay away from all African airlines, all airlines operating as the national carrier of a third world country and any airline with a name I can't pronounce.
              Don
              Standard practice for managers around the world:
              Ready - Fire - Aim! DAMN! Missed again!

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              • #8
                If you want to be picky, you may want to avoid the airlines that dont do their own maintenance. Other than that, All US carriers are safe. Southwest has never had a fatality. (As far as I know)

                I feel perfectly safe in ANY US based carrier.
                Life is good

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                • #9
                  I would be more concerned about the drive to the airport then flying.

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                  • #10
                    Dmmoore: Regarding sub-saharan African carriers, what about Ethiopian Airlines? It's supposed to have a top notch safety reputation.

                    Originally posted by AVIATIONFASCINATION View Post
                    Other than that, All US carriers are safe. Southwest has never had a fatality. (As far as I know)
                    Southwest has never had a passenger fatality due to an accident.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Vincentomoh View Post
                      Dmmoore: Regarding sub-saharan African carriers, what about Ethiopian Airlines? It's supposed to have a top notch safety reputation.
                      Ethiopian has a decent enough reputation, at least for Africa, and I myself would probably take them without much thought. However, their record is far from clean over the past several decades. The real point, however, is that it is a small airline, with just 50 or so departures a day, compared with, say, 1200 for British Airways or 2200 for American Airlines. Therefore, a small airline with a supposedly good safety reputation and culture (and there are many) has to be considered in this context. See also my comment with reference to Qantas in Post # 4.

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                      • #12
                        Yes, I understand how that can skew safety statistics in that way.

                        AFAIK Ethiopian's last fatal disaster was the hijacking in 1996. Captain Leul Abate performed well in that regard; I'm not sure if the failure to shield the cockpit would be a blame on the airline or on something else.

                        Originally posted by HalcyonDays View Post
                        Ethiopian has a decent enough reputation, at least for Africa, and I myself would probably take them without much thought. However, their record is far from clean over the past several decades. The real point, however, is that it is a small airline, with just 50 or so departures a day, compared with, say, 1200 for British Airways or 2200 for American Airlines. Therefore, a small airline with a supposedly good safety reputation and culture (and there are many) has to be considered in this context. See also my comment with reference to Qantas in Post # 4.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by AVIATIONFASCINATION View Post
                          Southwest has never had a fatality. (As far as I know)
                          The little boy killed in the car they hit at MDW was counted as a fatality on WN's record, thankfully so far he's the only one.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by sea View Post
                            This is my first post here. I have this thing where I'm afraid to fly on any American airline, although I have multiple times within the U.S. Now I am considering flying across the Atlantic on one but am kind of scared...I almost want to shell out the extra couple hundred to fly BA. Am I just being paranoid? Which ones are the least safe?
                            I suggest you shell out a few more bucks and charter a GV or 550SP or whatever they're called these days.

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