The safest airlines for 2026 revealed — and five are US carriers

The safest airlines in the world for 2026 have been revealed in a respected annual ranking — and five are US carriers.

Each year, independent aviation website Airline Ratings lists the 25 safest full-service and low-cost airlines, drawn up from a total of 320 airlines that it monitors.

The top-rated full-service U.S. carrier is Alaska Airlines, ranked No. 15 globally. It beats Delta and American Airlines into second and third place, with those airlines ranking No. 23 and No. 24 globally.

In the low-cost ranking, Southwest is the highest-placed U.S. carrier at No. 6, followed by JetBlue at No. 14.

open image in gallery

The rankings are put together after analysis of several safety and operational criteria.

Airline Ratings explains that it looks at whether the airline has had serious pilot-related safety incidents and the number of fatal accidents in the past 10 years, excluding accidents caused by terrorism, hijacking, pilot suicides, or accidents involving other airlines.

How airlines performed in international safety audits is also investigated.

The full-service airline ranked top globally this year is UAE-based Etihad, with Hong Kong-headquartered Cathay Pacific in second place and Australia’s Qantas in third.

open image in gallery

The rest of the top 10 comprises Qatar, Emirates, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia, and Korean Air.

Topping the low-cost ranking is Hong Kong-based HK Express, followed by Melbourne-headquartered Jetstar Airways (No. 2), Scoot (No. 3), Flydubai (No. 4), and EasyJet (No. 5).

Airline Ratings CEO Sharon Petersen stressed that extremely narrow margins separate the airlines in the rankings and that differences “shouldn’t be interpreted as gaps in safety.”

She explained: “What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders. 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.”