Due to recent unfortunate airline crashes, the media has been promoting statistics stating air is no longer a safe way to travel. The news and media outlets have been bombarding the public with reports and figures about the trends of airline safety and that things are not looking good. What was previously thought as the safest way to travel, especially when compared to automobiles, is now being presented as one of the most dangerous to the public.
But are any of these claims based on facts?
While departures remained fairly consistent over the previous 20-year span, both accidents and casualties, as a percentage of departures, have continued downward trends. Traffic fatalities continue to outpace airline fatalities by an order of magnitude, which would indicate that air travel still remains safer than travel by automobile. U.S. Passenger airlines account for a relatively small portion of total air travel related fatalities. While the major U.S. Passenger airlines struggled financially during the first decade of the 21st century, Net Profit has remained positive in recent years (through 2019).
My repo for this project can be found here.