Which Airline's Been Named World's Safest?
See which U.S. carriers made the list.
— -- If your 2016 resolutions include more travel, it may be wise to know which airlines top the list.
AirlineRatings.com, an independent plane safety and product ranking website, has just released its annual list of the world's safest airlines. Coming out on top for the third year in a row is Australian carrier Qantas, with its "fatality-free" record. The other major carriers that rounded out the top 20 list are (in alphabetical order) Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.
The rankings, according to the site, are based on "a comprehensive analysis utilizing information from the world's aviation governing body and leading association along with governments and crash data." It takes into account, the site said, a range of factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations as well as government audits and the airline’s fatality record. 4017 airlines worldwide were considered.
This year, the site also ranked the 10 safest low-cost airlines. They are, in alphabetical order, Aer Lingus, Flybe, HK Express, Jetblue, Jetstar Australia, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly, Virgin America, Volaris and Westjet.