Among the safest companies, which have not had a single accident in their entire long history, are two of the world's oldest carriers – Australian Qantas, founded in 1922, and Finnish Finnair, operating since 1923. According to JACDEC, there are a total of 22 airlines worldwide whose aircraft have never been involved in emergencies.
The best airline in the world in 2006 was recognized as Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific, which entered the passenger air transport market in 1946. Other major international carriers that received maximum safety ratings also included Japan's All Nippon Airways, Britain's Virgin Atlantic Airways, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, Emirates, Thailand's EVA Air, Qatar Airways, Britain's EasyJet. The only US company to receive the highest score was JetBlue.
Half of the airlines with an impeccable reputation are carriers from German-speaking countries. German companies such as LTU, Air Berlin, DBA, Germanwings, Eurowings, Hamburg International, Helvetic Airways, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Bluewings, Edelweiss Air, and Niki passed the exam with flying colors. However, Germany's leading and largest airline Lufthansa received 0.05 penalty points for safety. This is because on November 20, 1974, a Lufthansa aircraft crashed at Nairobi Airport, killing 64 people. The same safety score was given to Air Canada and the Austrian group AUA. Closing the list of the world's 50 largest airlines are carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Brazil's TAM, Air India, and Taiwan's China Airlines.
US Airways and Russia's Aeroflot are among the carriers considered 'doubtful' from a safety standpoint. Philippine Airlines, Korean Air, and American Airlines also have sad track records, with more than a dozen aircraft having crashed since 1973.
Among the most reliable aircraft is the Boeing 777: none of the 600 units of this model produced since 1994 are recorded in accident statistics.
Overall, as Aero International notes, the results can be called encouraging: over the past year, there have been no major crashes among large airlines. According to the magazine's experts, control is tightening, and so-called 'flight bans' have become a powerful weapon, applied not only in EU countries but also worldwide. Globalization also plays a positive role, as major aviation alliances are equally required to maintain high safety standards.