STATEN ISLAND, NY – Airplane safety will be a top concern for many travelers in 2024.
Earlier this year, a Boeing 737 caused a nationwide stir when a window and part of the aircraft’s fuselage flew out during the flight.
Although no passengers were injured during the depressurization and emergency landing, comprehensive safety inspections and a federal investigation began within hours.
With confidence in air travel safety shaky at best, data journalism website Stacker recently analyzed which airlines have the best safety records.
Using flight data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the report ranked major and regional U.S. airlines by the number of injuries and other injuries caused in aviation accidents.
Each airline was assigned a safety score, with a maximum score of 35.
These are the five safest airlines, according to the report.
Spirit Airlines
Safety rating: 33.07
Spirit was named the safest airline in the country two years in a row and had only two incidents on board its flights in 2024.
Alaska Airlines
Safety rating: 32.04
While a tire failure occurred on an Alaskan Airlines flight earlier this year, blame for the problem was ultimately placed on the manufacturer, Boeing. As frightening as this incident may be, it was the only one reported on an Alaska Airlines flight this year.
Border airlines
Safety rating: 29.94
Although Frontier is not as big as some of the titans of the airline industry, the company has a solid safety record, with zero safety incidents reported to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in 2022 and 2024.
SkyWest Airlines
Safety rating: 28.64
Although SkyWest has had a flawless record at the federal level since 2022, unions accuse the regional airline of trying to circumvent safety standards for passenger flights.
American Airlines
Safety rating: 23.98
In 2024, only one incident on an American Airlines flight was reported to the NTSB. However, a pilots’ union has stated that the airline has maintenance and safety problems.
