Ever since the accident on January 5th occurred where an Alaska Airlines flight’s door plug blew up mid air, concerns about safe air travel have increased even though no one was injured. This shed doubt on the us Boeing 737 Max planes and an inspection on this plane was carried out by the Federal Aviation Administration. Fortunately there were no fatal accidents. Lets look at some of the best and worst safety airlines to fly according to data from the U.S. The airlines studied were ranked from worst to best and we narrowed the data to be as precise as possible.
10 Best and Safest US Airlines to Fly in 2024
Southwest Airlines
Their airlines list starts with Southwest Airlines. Their safety score is 4.52 out of 35 points. Southwest flights went under a safety audit after repeated mistakes. An example is the Dutch roll the flight went in to causing the nose to make a figure eight motion. Fortunately no passenger was injured in this event and it had occurred due to some damage to the tail of the airplane. It is considered one of the top 10 safest airlines to fly. Southwest Airlines have the lowest score on the list.
United Airlines
United Airlines is a regional airline in the US and their flights have a strong airline safety record with a score of 20 out of 35. It is considered one of the best airlines of 2024. Oversight prevented United from adding new routes in 2024 after an event when the wheels skid of the run way. The FAA would oversee the inspection of their new planes while the CEO of United Airlines assured that he would place greater emphasis on safety policies. Since mid 2024 they have been allowed to add more routes again. They are one of the safer U.S airlines. They are the 9th best overall for safety.
Hawaiian Airlines
A 2024 report says Hawaiian Airlines received a safety score of 21.73 out of 35. Since August 9th there have not been any investigations conducted on them and was 94 years of age in 2023. This effectively means they have not had any safety incidents. Fatality incidents aboard Hawaiian Airlines flights are non existent making Hawaiian Airlines flights so far a great alternative. It is smaller than other airlines and only does about 260 flights a day. Other airlines achieve 4000 flights per day. Hawaiian airlines is also a good choice for safety in retrospective. This has earned the airline 8th place in the best airlines list. The National Transportation Safety Board has not undertaken investigation of this airlines in 2024.
JetBlue Airlines
Only once during the year of 2024 in the month of February was their a safety concern with JetBlue’s flight when its plane had an accident with another plane. Fortunately no passenger was injured in this event. In 2023 there were three minor safety related events and two more serious ones which involved some injuries that are yet under investigation. JetBlue managed to get a safety score of 23.06. They are the airline to rank 7th.
Delta Airlines
Delta Air lines received a safety score of 23.89 and manages 4000 flights daily as well as 190 million customers in the year 2023. There have been four serious incidents recorded this year and in late June of 2024 there were 4 incidents within a time span of 48 hours. Even though no one was hurt an engine did catch fire once shortly after takeoff.
American Airlines
American Airlines has a safety score of 23.98. This airline remained accident free during the years of 2022 and 2023. However there was one incident in March of 2020 when a tail strike occurred during landing but no fatalities were recorded. They have an amazing safety record. There was only one serious accident since August 2024. They fall in to the overall top 5 safest airlines.
SkyWest Airlines
SkyWest airlines manages to achieve score of 28.64 out of 35 points in total. With its headquarters in Utah it possesses almost 500 planes. It has partnerships with other airlines like American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines. However they have been accused of trying to dodge safety regulations by chartering flights for passengers. Since September their airline maintenance program has been under investigation. It is considered one of the safer airlines in the United States.
Frontier Airlines
Colorado-based Frontier Airlines gets a score of 29.94 out of a total of 35 points. It is a Colorado based airline and is about the same size as Hawaiian Airlines compared to giants like Delta, United and American. With approximately 500 flights a day there have not been any safety concerns since August of 2024. 2022 was also event free and the last event that took place was in March 2024 when a flight attendant broke her hip due to rough air. It is considered to be a top airline with when it comes to safety. Among the airlines Frontier has a strong spot.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines may be infamous because of their latest safety issue this year when Alaska Airlines flight door plug exploded even though the blame was mostly on the airplane manufacturer, Boeing. That was the single safety incident of the year. Yet it still has a very strong score of 32.04 out of 35 and ranked top 10 in both 2021 and 2022. Booking a flight with them means safety will have to be one of the things your are least concerned about. Among the 2024 list of the big airlines in the United States Alaska Airlines is in second place.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines have the best score of 33.07 out of 35 points and even though they are a low-cost carrier and an affordable airline they are the safest way to travel. It has won the award for being the safest airline in the US for the past 2 years in a row and tops the list according to wallethub. It was awarded Aviation Maintenance Technician Diamond Award of Excellence every year between 2019 and 2024. Among the two incidents of the year there was only one serious injury. Thus they have been named the safest airline on the 2024 list of the top airlines in USA.
This is a comprehensive list of the 10 least to most safe airlines so now you are equipped with the knowledge needed to plan travel to your next destination in the safest way possible.