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Airline Safety Ratings

Airline Safety Ratings

Skytrax do not publish a comparative rating of airline safety standards or airline safety record details, because there is no single accurate, global reference of safety standards and/or safety incidents which provides information that can in our opinion be truly trusted by passengers, or which supplies total accuracy to customers in choosing an airline.

This can be an emotive subject for airline travellers, and we believe they deserve 100 per cent accuracy. It is critical that any single, global measure of Airline Safety provides exactly that – a single rating format with no gaps caused by inconsistency in the way safety incidents may or may not be reported.

It is fact that at the present time it is not possible to obtain (or provide) 100 per cent accurate or consistent global reporting about airline safety incidents. This applies to either the accuracy or consistency of reporting from all airlines around the world, and is also impacted by being able to get a guaranteed consistency of reporting from regulatory or governing bodies in “all” countries around the world.


To publish a global Airline Safety Rating could be misleading from our professional perspective


Skytrax do rate an airline’s front-line staff adherence to safety standards, based on direct Audit experience and analysis of how efficiently and consistently airport and cabin safety standards are applied by an airline’s front-line staff, before and during flights.

Skytrax conduct inspections of airline Safety Training courses, examining training procedures and practical Safety Training. However, to publish a global Airline Safety Rating could be misleading from our professional perspective, because there is no accurate or scientific formula that can be applied on an industry-wide basis.

See which airlines are IOSA Registered

Skytrax focus our safety reference to airlines registered within the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). This is a trusted source for the airline industry. The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership.

» View full list of IOSA registered airlines

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