This Australian Airline Is Considered The World's Safest

What makes an airline safe? Aren't some flying conditions out of the flight staff's control? Does the type of plane being flown really matter when it comes to unpreventable and unpredictable disasters? The answer to those is, well, sort of yes, and sort of no. Sure, the majority of disasters in the air are out of the staff's control, but the way in which airline staff is trained to handle situations like unruly passengers and having to emergency land on water (and actually implements that training) is what separates safe from unsafe airlines.

Each year, AirlineRatings collects data from 385 different airlines, and award the safest based on a number of factors. This year, the award for safest airline goes to Qantas Airways, an Australian carrier that has won this title several times in the past. While there are other alleged factors to staying safe when flying (like sitting in the back of the plane), booking with Qantas will have even the most nervous of travelers at ease, thanks to their clean track record as one of the safest airlines in the world.

What exactly is it that Qantas is doing right to earn the title of "World's Safest Airline?" According to AirlineRatings.com, the factors taken into consideration are serious incidents, fatal accidents, audits from aviation's governing and industry bodies, profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment, and fleet age. Aside from ranking high along all of the considerable factors, Qantas, which is over 100 years old, has continually broken records as being the first in areas of operation and safety, and according to a 2008 British Advertising Standards Association ruling, Qantas is widely accepted as the aviation industry's most experienced airline.

Not only does Qantas have a pretty clean past track record, but the airline has become the one to watch for Future Air Navigation development in the future. They've innovated tech-savvy features, such as automatic landings using the Global Navigation Satellite System, precision approaches around mountains in even the worst weather conditions using RNP, and the ability to protect problems before they become major issues by monitoring its engines in real-time by using satellite communications.

While Qantas is an Australian-based airline, luckily for the rest of us, they have flights all over the world. With 64 domestic destinations within Australia and 25 international destinations (in the USA specifically, they fly to Hawaii, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago), it's safe to say if you're ever planning a trip, especially to Australia, you'll know which airline you need to fly to get there to travel at ease.

Qantas flights are typically reviewed as being comfortable with top-notch amenities, even for economy class. We would certainly hope so since Qantas runs three of the world's top-10 longest commercial flights: Perth (PER) to London (LHR) at 17 hours and 15 minutes; Melbourne (MEL) to Dallas (DFW) at 17 hours and 35 minutes; and Darwin (DRW) to London (LHR) at a whopping 17 hours and 55 minutes.

All in all, between comfortable seats (even for long-haul flights that last almost an entire day), and record-breaking safety measures, Qantas Airlines is a great way to go, especially for international flights. Anxious travelers can relax knowing they're on the world's safest airline.