Despite increasing prices, travelers are still planning adventures in 2026. A recent survey by American Express found that around 40% of people worldwide plan to spend more on travel than last year.
This increased financial risk is driving more people to purchase travel insurance, with the market projected to grow at a nearly 17% CAGR to $35.97 billion by the end of this year. In addition to acquiring coverage for their trip, travelers should also take the time to research not only their destination but also their mode of travel, including airlines and airports, to prevent delays. cancellations and safety incidents when possible.
Airline Ratings compares more than 300 airlines around the world each year to determine which are safest for travelers. Their scoring criteria includes data like the number of safety incidents compared to the airline's total number of flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training and international safety audits.
Three U.S. carriers made it into Airline Ratings' top 25 this year: Alaska Airlines, Delta and American Airlines.
According to the ratings company, travelers need to understand that the safety margins from airline to airline are narrow, and that small numerical differences in their ratings should not be interpreted as gaps in safety.
"What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders. Less than four points covered positions one through 14, and at the very top the margins were even tighter, with just 1.3 points separating positions one through six in the full service category," Airline Ratings CEO Sharon Petersen said in their report. "We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality. All airlines in the Top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false."
Airline Ratings also compared low-cost airlines and determined the top airlines for safety in that category include HK Express, Jetstar Airways, Scott, flydubai and EasyJet Group.
"Overall, it is important to note that every airline featured in the 2026 list has recorded incidents over the past two years, from tail strikes to on-board fires and engine shutdowns, yet the actual incident rate per flight sits between 0.002 and 0.09 across the airlines, which is a true credit to the industry as a whole," Peterson said.
In the slideshow above, we'll count down the airlines that made Airline Ratings' top ten for safety in 2026.
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