Air Travel is Safer than Ever… It is the Safest Form of Transportation
Air travel is the safest mode of transportation that has ever existed, by far, in the history of the world. It’s safer than crossing the street.
Watching the news or scrolling through your social media feed, you might think planes are falling from the sky on a daily basis. The alarming headlines make it seem like we’re in the midst of a terrifying period where aviation safety is at an unprecedented low point. It’s not.
While there are concerns about aircraft manufacturing, the data shows that air transportation in the United States and around the world is the safest form of transportation. Still, individual incidents have made fliers feel unsafe.
The facts tell the story. Passengers are boarding flights at record numbers. This spring, U.S. airlines are expected to carry about 2.7 million passengers each day, according to Airlines for America. That’s more than 167 million fliers during a two-month period from March 1 to April 30. With all of these projections, the number of incidents involving passenger aircraft is in line with historic levels, which clearly shows we remain in the safest period in commercial aviation history here in the United States.
That’s not to discount the seriousness of recent incidents. But the statistics show that flying in a commercial aircraft is safer than ever — and that’s true for planes from all major manufacturers. This streak of safety is directly attributed to how aircraft and equipment manufacturers design passenger aircraft and the safety policies put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration. Safety has to be earned every day.
2023 was the safest year for flying ever, according to the International Air Transport Association. Globally, there was only one accident for every 1.26 million flights — the lowest rate in more than a decade. The fatal accident rate is so low, a passenger would have to fly every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident. It’s important to understand how we got here and what we need to do to keep it that way.
Unexpected incidents will happen. Occasionally, birds are going to fly into a plane’s engine or a windshield might crack. What is important to remember is that planes were designed with safety — and a lot of redundancy — in mind. Natural or mechanical problems happen, but planes and the equipment on board are built to ensure that they can safely land despite these issues. And, equally important, is that the flight crew is trained to respond when something unexpected happens. And U.S. flight crews are among the best in the world.
To put this into perspective if a twin-engine plane loses an engine, that plane can still climb to altitude, give the pilots time to assess the situation, and then safely land. If a plane gets a flat tire, or loses a tire, as happened during one recent incident, it can still land safely. If a critical sensor or radio fails, there’s a back-up ready to fill in. While that’s not something the average flier thinks about, it’s something every flier should know.
The FAA certification rules that govern the safety of the entire U.S. civil aviation industry drive redundancy into the core design and manufacturing oversight of planemakers.
Those regulations ensure that when something goes wrong, an aircraft can still bring passengers safely to their destination. The redundancies built into the core design of the aircraft, the parts that go into the aircraft and the maintenance and manufacturing processes make aviation the safest form of transportation available. With all of these safeguards, there is a simple truth: when there are incidents, no matter how small, we have to learn from them. And we have.
It’s important to remember that at any given hour of any day there could be more than 5,400 planes in the sky over the United States, according to the FAA. On the manufacturing side, Boeing estimates one of its 737s takes off or lands every two seconds somewhere in the world. According to enginemaker GE Aerospace, every two seconds, an aircraft with a GE Aerospace or partner engine takes off on a journey as well. The sheer number of flights means aviation manufacturers do not take safety for granted and that we cannot rest on the standards of today. Years ago, people said we can and should do more, that we can and should be better. It takes time, investment new processes, and technologies. It is a continuous cycle of improvement.
Pilot and air traffic controller training contributes to this unprecedented safety record, as does the regulations, design, oversight, and certification of commercial aircraft.
There hasn’t been a fatal commercial aviation accident in the United States since 2009. And everyone, regulators, airlines, manufacturers, service providers, airports, and policymakers need to do everything in their power to ensure that this enviable accomplishment does not end.
