While the plane is the safest mode of transportation, not all airlines offer the same level of safety.
AirlineRatings.com, an airline rating site created in 2013, annually ranks the 20 best performing air carriers in terms of safety among the 385 analyzed.
In its 2021 ranking, the Australian Qantas occupies the first place for the third consecutive year, ahead of Qatar Airways and Air New Zealand.
The top 20 gives six places to American companies (Alaska Airlines, Delta ...) and devotes the other two major Gulf companies (Emirates and Etihad).
On the European airlines side, British Airways (10th) is ahead of the Scandinavian SAS (16th), the Finnish (17th) Finnair, the German Lufthansa (18th) and the Dutch KLM (19th).
Top 20 safest airlines in the world, according to Airline Ratings:
Qantas
Qatar Airways
New Zealand
Singapore Airlines
Emirates
EVA Air
Etihad Airways
Alaska Airlines
Cathay Pacific Airways
British Airways
Virgin Australia
Hawaiian Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Delta Air Lines
American Airlines
SAS
Finnair
Lufthansa
KLM
United Airlines
Air France absent from the leading pack
To establish its classification, the site evaluates the age of the fleet, the number of accidents or serious incidents recorded and government and aviation industry audits.
Health crisis requires, the measures put in place by companies to deal with Covid-19 constitute a new evaluation criterion.
Absent from the top 20, Air France is thus assigned a score of 7/7 in terms of safety, 5.5 / 7 in terms of service and 6/7 for the management of Covid-19.
The lack of a sanitary kit given to passengers causes it to lose one point in this category.
AirlineRatings.com has also established a ranking dedicated to low-cost airlines.
In this top 10 are three European companies: easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air.
