Top 25 Safest Airlines of 2024 List Omits Several Major U.S. Carriers

The top 25 safest airlines of 2024 have been announced by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only airline safety and product rating website. And this may or may not come as a surprise to American travelers, but U.S. carriers barely cracked the top 10, with an overall underwhelming showing on the list.

In coming up with its findings, the website monitors 385 different airlines to ascertain which are "at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft." Editors analyze criteria including crashes over the past five years, serious incidents over two years, audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations, government audits, fleet age, and aircrew training.

What it found was that Air New Zealand earned top marks, just inching out runner-up Qantas by only a point and a half, with the fleet age criteria giving Air New Zealand the ultimate advantage. The down under continued to fare well with Virgin Australia in third place, and Middle East-based airlines Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and Emirates in the following three spots.

Meanwhile, the U.S. made the No. 10 spot with Alaska Airlines, behind Japan's All Nippon Airways in seventh, Finnair in eighth, and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways in ninth. However, the U.S. had a better showing down the list with Hawaiian Airlines in 21st, American Airlines in 22nd, and United Airlines in 25th place. Other U.S. carriers like Delta Air Lines and Jet Blue Airlines did not make the list.

AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas explained that all airlines have incidents every day, though many are aircraft or engine manufacturing issues and not airline operational problems. "It is the way the flight crew handles these serious incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one," he said.

“Our top 25 safest airlines 2024 are always at the forefront of safety innovation, operational excellence, and the launching of new more advanced aircraft such as the Airbus A350 Boeing 787 and 777-9," Thomas added. "Airlines such as Emirates launched the 777-300ER and the 777-9 and are the biggest operators of the A380."

You can view the top 25 list in full, below.

1. Air New Zealand
2. Qantas
3. Virgin Australia
4. Etihad Airways
5. Qatar Airways
6. Emirates
7. All Nippon Airways
8. Finnair
9. Cathay Pacific Airways
10. Alaska Airlines
11. SAS
12. Korean Air
13. Singapore Airlines
14. EVA Air
15. British Airways
16. Turkish Airlines
17. TAP Air Portugal
18. Lufthansa/Swiss Group
19. KLM
20. Japan Airlines
21. Hawaiian Airlines
22. American Airlines
23. Air France
24. Air Canada Group
25. United Airlines