The Worst Airlines in the World

July 8, 2009 — -- Angry about your airline seat? Not enough legroom, not enough width, not enough comfort? Well, here's a solution: no seats at all.

Crazy? I think so. But Shanghai-based Spring Airlines is considering it. They figure by making planes standing room only they can squeeze 40 percent more passengers on board. Does this qualify Spring as one of the worst airlines in the world?

Not hardly.

The worst airlines are the ones that don't meet "essential safety levels."

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at: farecompare.com

Before we go any farther, let me just state that the airline industry is both safe and reliable, okay?

I don't think twice about hopping aboard aircraft all over the world with my family and friends. But I am also acutely aware that there are over 700 commercial airlines worldwide with scheduled service in the Official Airline Guide (OAG) -- plus hundreds of local carriers -- and there are a few of these we should all undoubtedly steer clear of.

Many of those will appear on what has been dubbed the European Union's "blacklist" of airlines. It was first published in 2006 and is slated to be updated in a few weeks. The list bans carriers it deems "unsafe" from operating in European airspace. The list includes 17 airlines from the Kyrgyz Republic; 51 Indonesian airlines and 57 airlines from the Democratic Republic of Congo -- including the perhaps optimistically named, Safe Air Company.

A quick Google search provides many of examples of disasters involving blacklisted airlines: Last year, in the Congo, for instance, a jetliner attempting a take-off in Goma didn't make it, smashing instead into shops and houses in a commercial district, killing several people. The airline was operated by Hewa Bora -- which yes, has a spot on the EU's blacklist.