Top 11 safest airlines to fly on in 2025
The U.S. airline industry is facing questions about safety after a string of concerning events in the beginning of 2025.
The most notorious occurred on Jan. 29, when an Army-operated Blackhawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet in mid-air outside the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Tragically, all 67 individuals aboard the two aircraft perished. Days later on Jan. 31, another fatal incident made headlines—seven people died and more than a dozen were injured after an air ambulance crashed into a street in Philadelphia.
Throughout the month of February, more deadly crashes followed: a commuter plane crashed in Alaska, killing 10; two private planes collided in Scottsdale, killing one; and two single-engine planes collided in the air above Arizona's Marana Regional Airport, killing two. Also in the same month, a Delta Air Lines plane overturned on a runway in Toronto, though all passengers and crew survived.
While news of more dramatic aviation disasters has slowed, broader concerns over flying remain. At a March 2025 House hearing, former FAA employee and air traffic controller Paul Rinaldi testified, "We are not the gold standard in aviation anymore. We are not even on the world's podium." Additional incidents have also raised alarms, including multiple radar outages at Newark Liberty International Airport in early May 2025. In terms of that particular airport, one of the nation's busiest, an air traffic controller reportedly told MSNBC, "It is not safe. It is not a safe situation right now for the flying public." Even without fatal accidents, the general public is not comforted when they're given warnings to the tune of, "Avoid Newark at all costs."
As far as actual safety incidents go, airlines are required to report those to the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates each occurrence and recommends that the FAA bolster safety. (Data about these incidents, once reported to government agencies, is open to the public.) The NTSB is still investigating the Jan. 29 episode, which prompted President Donald Trump to promise an overhaul of the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system.
In the meantime, these incidents and subsequent concerning statements have left some travelers wondering about the safety of U.S. airlines or flying in general. Google Trends data shows that searches for the term "How safe is flying" spiked in February 2025. However, a February 2025 analysis of NTSB data shows that thus far, 2025 has seen a below-average level of aviation accidents.
To find out which U.S. airlines have the best and worst safety records, Stacker looked at WalletHub's 2025 report on this year's best airlines and narrowed the data to the safety section of the study, which looked at four metrics from 2019 to 2024: 1) the number of fatal injuries in aviation accidents, 2) the number of injuries in aviation incidents and accidents, 3) the number of incidents and accidents per total number of flight operations, and 4) average fleet age. The nine largest national airlines, as well as two regional carriers, studied were then ranked from least to most safe. The maximum score an airline can achieve is 30 points.
Read on to see how your airline of choice—and its competitors—rank.
#11. Envoy Air
- Safety score: 13.3
Formerly known as American Eagle Airlines, Envoy Air is now a subsidiary of American Airlines and operates 800 daily flights. Even with its smaller scale, however, it has managed to stand out—and not always in a good way. WalletHub's latest data, released April 14, 2025, ranked Envoy at the very bottom of the best airlines, and its safety score tumbled from its peak around 27 in 2022 and 2023 to its current 13.3.
In 2022, a baggage handler for Envoy Air was involved in a fatal accident on the runway in Mongomery Airport, Alabama. The airline has not had any passenger fatalities from aviation incidents, but that doesn't mean it's all been smooth sailing. In September 2024, an Envoy Air plane hit an American Airlines plane at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, though there were no injuries. Another close call happened in October 2024, when an Envoy flight landed on the wrong runway at the same airport.
#10. United Airlines
- Safety score: 18
In March 2024, the FAA said it was bumping up oversight of United after those aforementioned incidents involving wheels and tires lost and skidding off runways. That oversight prevented United from adding new routes and required the FAA to be present during inspections of new planes to replace old ones in the airline's fleet. United's CEO, Scott Kirby, has pledged to refocus the company on safety and review its policies. In mid-May 2024, the FAA cleared United to add new aircraft and routes once again, and the organization's full review ended in October 2024 with no significant issues found.
United found itself in the news on May 6, 2025, when two of its planes clipped each other's wings at San Francisco International Airport, leading to the cancellation of both flights.
#9. Hawaiian Airlines
- Safety score: 21.58
As of Feb. 22, 2025, the NTSB hasn't had to investigate any incidents aboard Hawaiian Airlines flights so far this year. In fact, Hawaiian Airlines is also the nation's oldest carrier that's never had a fatal accident in its 95-year history. However, Hawaiian is also quite a bit smaller than other stateside airlines. It operates about 260 flights each day, most of which are leaving from or arriving in Hawai'i. For comparison, other major U.S. carriers manage upwards of 4,000 flights per day.
#8. JetBlue
- Safety score: 22.17
In early 2025, the NTSB launched an investigation of JetBlue's preflight safety practices after two deceased stowaways were discovered in a plane's wheel well. That's not JetBlue's only recent investigation, though—the FAA opened another in February 2024, after a JetBlue plane collided with another aircraft on the ground while it was getting in place to deice. No one was injured.
#7. Delta Air Lines
- Safety score: 22.89
Delta Air Lines operates at high volume—about 5,000 flights daily and 200 million customers in 2024. In February 2025, a Delta Air Lines plane flipped over at Toronto Pearson International Airport—miraculously, all 80 individuals on board survived, though at least 18 were injured. The crash is still under investigation.
With as many flights as it takes, it may be no surprise that Delta has continued to deal with a series of aviation incidents in 2025. In April 2025, three separate flights were forced to make emergency landings due to cabin pressurization issues. That same month, a plane engine caught fire on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport.
#6. American Airlines
- Safety score: 23.49
Tragedy struck American Airlines in January 2025, when a fatal mid-air collision with a Blackhawk helicopter above the Potomac River led to the deaths of all 64 passengers and three helicopter pilots aboard the two aircraft. The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation. Beyond this incident, however, a union for American Airlines pilots said in April 2024 that it noticed "a significant spike in safety- and maintenance-related problems."
In April 2025, the wing of one American Airlines plane struck another at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The incident received extra attention, thanks to the presence of multiple members of Congress onboard one of the flights.
#5. Southwest Airlines
- Safety score: 23.55
In July 2024, the FAA placed the airline under a safety audit after a string of close calls on its flights. In May, for example, a Southwest flight went into a Dutch roll, which is when the plane's wings oscillate, causing the nose to make a figure-eight motion. No one was injured, and the FAA said the incident resulted from damage to the tail, which controls the rudder. However, in December 2024, the FAA closed its investigation without finding any overall safety concerns at Southwest.
Meanwhile, Southwest has continued to face several concerning headlines, including a near-collision in February 2025, an aborted takeoff from a taxiway and a blown tire in March 2025, and an emergency landing due to engine failure in April 2025.
#4. SkyWest Airlines
- Safety score: 25.02
SkyWest Airlines, headquartered in Utah, is a regional airline with nearly 500 planes in its fleet. It operates through carrier partnerships with American, United, Delta, and Alaska Airlines. The airline has had a clean record with the NTSB since the middle of 2022. In June 2023, however, airline unions accused SkyWest of trying to evade safety regulations for passenger airlines by operating some flights as charters. The FAA also began investigating the airline's maintenance program in September 2024.
#3. Alaska Airlines
- Safety score: 25.63
Alaska Airlines may have had the most infamous airline safety issue of 2024, in which a door plug flew off midflight, but much of the fallout came to airplane manufacturer, Boeing. Despite the frightening situation, the airline still has one of the highest ratings for safety. In AirlineRatings.com's annual report, Alaska was the only U.S. airline to rank in the top 10 for 2025.
#2. Frontier Airlines
- Safety score: 26.31
Colorado-based Frontier Airlines is more similar in size to Hawaiian than the major U.S. airlines like American, Delta, and United. It operates about 500 flights per day, and the most notable safety issue in recent history was an emergency landing in Las Vegas in October 2024. However, no passengers or crew were injured. On April 15, 2025, another Frontier landing drew attention, as an "aggressive" landing caused a wheel to break off, leaving passengers in fear for their lives.
#1. Spirit Airlines
- Safety score: 28.33
Travelers may joke about Spirit Airlines for giving passengers a no-frills experience on board its flights, but the low-cost carrier's safety record is serious business. In 2025, Spirit topped WalletHub's list for the third year in a row. The FAA also awarded Spirit the Aviation Maintenance Technician Diamond Award of Excellence every year from 2019 to 2025. More recently, CNN reported in February 2025 that the recent slew of high-profile aviation accidents among other airlines has led many flyers directly to Spirit's signature, bright-yellow jets.
Additional writing by Cu Fleshman and Louis Peitzman. Story editing by Jaimie Etkin. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.
