*AirlineRatings says the Australian Qantas Airlines has been a clear leader in the development of Future Air Navigation System, real-time monitoring of its engines across fleet, flight data recorder to monitor plane, premium crew performance, and automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System among others

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In further consolidating its admirable record of ‘firsts’ in both operations and safety in the global aviation industry, Australia’s Qantas Airlines, yet again, threw some extra shrimp on the barbie Monday, January 4, 2021, as it learned it’s been named the “world’s safest airline”.

AirlineRatings.com editors applauded the 100-year-old Qantas for amassing a record of firsts in both operations and safety.

AirlineRatings Spokesperson Christine Forbes Smith said: “The Australian airline has been a clear leader in the development of Future Air Navigation System; real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet, the flight data recorder to monitor plane and later crew performance; automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System as well as precision approaches around mountains in the cloud using RNP (Required Navigation Performance),”

Smith noted that Qantas has been either first or second to roll out the 16 major safety enhancements introduced in the past 60 years.

In arriving at the list of 20 top airlines as regards outstanding operations and safety, and evaluating an airline’s safety, AirlineRatings.com took an exhaustive range of factors into account.

These include an airline’s crash and serious incident record, government audits, audits from aviation’s governing and industry bodies, industry-leading safety initiatives, and fleet age.

Below showcases how the researchers ranked its who’s who in the global aviation industry in the past year:

1. Qantas
2. Qatar Airways
3. Air New Zealand
4. Singapore Airlines
5. Emirates
6. EVA Air
7. Etihad Airways
8. Alaska Airlines
9. Cathay Pacific Airways
10. British Airways
11. Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic
12. Hawaiian Airlines
13. Southwest Airlines
14. Delta Air Lines
15. American Airlines
16. SAS
17. Finnair
18. Lufthansa
19. KLM
20. United Airlines

Despite Qantas sitting atop the field and United bringing up the rear, Geoffrey Thomas, Editor-in-Chief of AirlineRatings.com, nonetheless, said that in reality, there’s not as much disparity as it seems between numbers 1 and 20 on the list.

Thomas stated: “These airlines are standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation, and launching of new aircraft. In fact, there is very little between the top 20, they are all standouts.”

It is also noted that hitherto, low-cost carriers had been excluded in the rankings.

But in response to public interest, AirlineRatings.com editors decided to include them this time around.

Their Top 10 safest and best low-cost airlines are as follows in alphabetical order: Air Arabia, Allegiant, easyjet, Frontier, Jetstar Group, Jetblue, Ryanair, Vietjet, Westjet, and Wizz.