10 Most Unsafe Dangerous Airlines In America

The 10 most unsafe dangerous airlines in America may not kill you (air travel in the U.S is incredibly safe), but it’s always helpful to know which airlines are potentially more lax about safety than others, whether you’re looking for a cheap flight to LAX, or prepping for a world tour and wondering what to take on a long haul flight.

Many people have a phobia about air travel, perhaps because there’s a sense of having no control and your fate essentially being given up to the pilot/airplane/God, though you’re largely just as helpless in every other travel situation. Even if you’re driving a car, there’s simply no way to avoid some accidents, so being in control of the car is only providing a transparent sense of control.

2016 was one of the safest years for air travel ever, with just 19 fatal crashes globally, which resulted in 325 deaths. By comparison, over 35,000 people in the U.S alone were killed in car crashes in 2015. In terms of distance travelled, the safest way to travel by a landslide is flying (not traveling via a landslide, which probably isn’t very safe). Data compiled by Northwestern University showed that between 2000 and 2009, there were just 0.07 deaths per 1 billion passenger miles travelled via air in the U.S. That was even safer than rail travel, which checked in at 0.43. Cars meanwhile came in at a dramatically higher 7.28, while motorcycles were the least safe method of travel at 212.57 deaths per billion miles.

Air travel is now so entrenched that even tragic events appear to have little effect on the stocks of airliners, as one accident is unlikely to scare anyone away from traveling via planes, not when only 1 in over 10 million passengers is killed. You literally have less fortuitous odds of getting hit by lightning in any given year (1 in 700,000). Acts of terrorism on the other hand correlate more strongly with airline stock price action, as investors worry over whether tourism will be affected to certain regions or even globally.

Air travel is so safe in fact that only 5 of the 16 U.S-based carriers that were analyzed by airlineratings.com received less than a perfect safety rating. AirlineRatings uses various data to assign its safety ratings to airlines, including whether they are IOSA certified, are blacklisted by the European Union (presumably due to poor safety standards), and whether they are fatality-free over the past ten years.

To uncover the most unsafe dangerous airlines in America, we analyzed the Aviation Safety Network’s extensive database of aircraft incidents. We restricted the list to only active regional or mainline carriers in the U.S, to keep it as relevant as possible. Check it out beginning on the next page.

And if you’re itching for further airline-related reading, then be sure to check out the 11 safest low cost airlines in the world.

10. ExpressJet (SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW))

Number of Safety Incidents: 4

ExpressJet, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) (which also made the list) kicks off said list, having registered four safety incidents since 1998, which did not result in any fatalities. The latest incident occurred in 2013, when an ExpressJet Embraer E145 collided with a Scandinavian (SAS) Airbus A330-300 on a runway at Newark-Liberty International Airport.

9. PenAir

Number of Safety Incidents: 5

PenAir (Peninsula Airways) was one of the few U.S airlines on our list of most unsafe dangerous airlines in America which received a less than perfect safety score from airlineratings.com, scoring a 5/7, with the two lost points due to the company’s lack of IOSA certification. PenAir has one fatal accident in its history, which occurred in 2001 when all 10 passengers and crew aboard a Cessna 208 were killed when the plane crashed in Dillingham, Arkansas. The cause is believed to have been ice accumulation on the upper wing surfaces.

T7. SkyWest Airlines

Number of Safety Incidents: 6

A subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW), SkyWest AirlinesWe has recorded six safety incidents in its history according to the Aviation Safety Network, which have resulted in the deaths of 21 people (three of the six incidents resulted in fatalities). The latest incident however was not due to any fault of an aircraft’s operation; a wanted man gained access to a CRJ-200 passenger jet at Saint George Municipal Airport in Utah and committed suicide after unsuccessfully trying to make his getaway using the plane, which he struck the terminal building with.

T7. Horizon Air

Number of Safety Incidents: 6

Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), has also recorded six safety incidents, which have not resulted in any fatalities. The latest incident happened in 2005, and involved a runway collision between a Horizon Air DHC-8-202Q and a Northwest Airlines Airbus A330-223, which resulted in substantial damage to the DHC-8’s tail.

6. Great Lakes Airlines

Number of Safety Incidents: 8

Great Lakes Airlines ranks 6th in our list of most unsafe dangerous airlines in America. It has been involved in eight safety incidents, one of which proved to be fatal. In November 1996, 12 passengers and crew were killed when a Beechcraft 1900C-1 collided with a King Air A90 while trying to land at Quincy Municipal Airport in Illinois. Potentially contributing to the death toll was the fact that the air stair door on the Beechcraft 1900C-1 failed to open following the accident, at which point the plane was on fire. Great Lakes Airlines now flies to just 11 destinations after previously operating as a feeder carrier for United Express, during which time it flew to over 100 cities at one point.

5. Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV)

Number of Safety Incidents: 14

We are continuing our list of most unsafe dangerous airlines in America with Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) that is one of the most active airlines in the world, with as many as 3,900 departures daily during peak travel season, yet the company’s accident history is nearly spotless, with just one ground casualty from its 14 safety incidents. However, Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) was also dinged two safety points by airlineratings.com for not being IOSA certified.

4. Alaska Airlines (Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK))

Number of Safety Incidents: 18

Alaska Airlines, also a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is next up on our list of the 10 most unsafe dangerous airlines in America. The last major accident involving an Alaska Airlines plane happened on January 31, 2000, when all 88 people on board a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 were killed when the plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

3. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)

Number of Safety Incidents: 65

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is third on our list of most unsafe dangerous airlines in America, having been involved in 65 safety incidents, though only one in the last 25+ years has resulted in any fatalities. That incident occurred in July 1996, when two passengers were killed after an engine failure led to debris flying into the cabin.

2. United Airlines (United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL))

Number of Safety Incidents: 87

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) has not had a major incident since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when two of its planes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists, with one of those being flown into the south tower of the World Trade Center. Nonetheless, it ranks second on our list with 87 safety incidents in its history. United Airlines was fourth among the four major U.S carriers in terms of passenger miles flown in 2016, at 143,177,000.

1. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL)

Number of Safety Incidents: 98

American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) tops our list of the 10 most unsafe dangerous airlines in America. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) has been casualty-free since November 12, 2001, when all 260 people aboard Flight 587 were killed when the plane crashed in New York. American Airlines had three minor incidents in 2016, a year in which it led all U.S carriers in passenger miles flown with 198,714,575.

That wraps up our list of the 10 Most Unsafe Dangerous Airlines In America. Which airlines would you fly or not fly again? What do think about the safety of flying in general? Share your thoughts with our readers in the comments.

Disclosure: None