Alaska Airlines is amongst the safest airlines in the world according to a renowned online ratings platform. It is ranked on the eight position for its safety. Despite being an old and low cost air carrier, Alaska Airlines clears international standards of a safe airline and also keeps updating its operations to handle and manage the evolving risks in aviation.
The last fatal accident of Alaska Airlines was recorded in 2000. The airline has successfully managed to keep the safety records with no major accidents in the last 23 years. While, minor cases keep occuring due to weather, traffic control and other issues but no fatalities has been recorded luckily. Now that we are reaching a positive conclusion about its safety, let’s dig further and find out how safe is it to fly Alaska Airlines.
Alaska Airlines is completely safe to fly with an impressive safety record with no major accidents in the last 23 years. Although, there have been incidents in recent times but the crew handled it smartly, ensuring a safe landing.
Evenmore, the FAA approves its safety plan or initiative and IATA certifies it as a safe airline. Several other factors speak in favor of Alaska Airlines and its safety standards. Let’s review each one by one.
Alaska Airlines dates back to 1932 when it was a merger of a few aircrafts. Earlier, it was known as McGee Airways. It witnessed various highs and lows but in the end with gradual expansion, it was rebranded as Alaska Airlines in 1944. In so many, years, the airline underwent very majoe cahnges that helped secure its position in the market.
Alaska Airlines offers good quality facilties despite the fact that its fare prices are low and affordable. Its motive to serve the passengers with the best within an affordable range has allowed it to reach a larger customer base.
Focusing on the safety standards, the airline has invested on state of the art technology, AI, crew training and many other procedures to improve the safety standards and achieve a position in the aviation industry.
Alaska Airlines uses the Flyways AI tools to predict weather, traffic conditions and a few other factors that help reduce fueling costs and improve safety by avoiding risky situations due to bad weather and high air traffic. It is amongst the first airlines to introduce AI for efficient operations. Moreover, it is also one of the reasons why Alaska Airlines is so cheap by keeping the cost low through appropriate analysis of future bookings.
Alaska Airlines owns one of the best advanced fleet which includes aircarfts of various top-trusted brands. It consists of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer series. The average age of the fleet is approximately 6.3 years. This is a fairly young airplane series which is very well trusted in the industry for short to long haul flights.
There are narrow and wide body aircrafts to ensure different route needs and the risks associated to each. Furthermore, timely maintenance and repairs increase the durability and age of the airplane. Overall, it can be stated that Alaska Airlines is safe to fly.
Alaska Airlines accident record is low with no major fatality causing incident in almost 23 years. Although, it is also true that the airline has met various accidents that caused a lot of injuries and deaths, but that was the initial phase when the aviation industry was new with very limited knowledge.
Now, with increased focus on safety,guidelines and training on timely detection and management of unprecedented issues has strengthened the experience of safe air journeys. Alaska Airlines is steps ahead in this game. The airline uses an FAA approved safety plan for its operations.
Even if we trace the accident record then the last major accident was witnessed in 2000. Flight 261 of the Alaska Airlines met a crash due to jackscrew failures. After investigation it was found out that it was airline’s ignorance towards proper maintenance. On the other hand, the two pilots were rewarded for their honest efforts in saving the passengers. Unfortunately, out of 88 people, 83 died.
The point of discussing this instance is that Alaska Airlines has made various faults but it surely has improved at a much better rate which led to its rankings amongst the safest airlines in the world.
IATA and FAA certifies Alaska Airlines as safe and secure according to international standards. It qualifies the operational guidelines defined by ICAO which are used as the base to judge any airline performance and safety standards by IATA (International Air Transportation Association).
Evenmore, Alaska Airlines participates in various safety programs to stay updated about the new potential risks and the techniques to handle them while ensuring safe landings with least injuries and fatalities possible. Even, IATA analysis includes checking the measures which an airline follows to ensure safety of the passengers and the crew members.
FAA Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative is a collaboration between these two entities to create, monitor and improve the safety protocols. It includes adopting new technology for advanced weather navigation, aeronautical charting and many other operational procedures. This partnership has shown significant improvements in the safety standards of Alaska Airlines, resulting in the top 8th spot in the world for safety.
Alaska Airlines crew is highly experienced and trained to handle potential threats. With assistance from the AI and technologically advanced aircrafts, the pilots and crew are able to take fast decisions which gives the advantage to handle the situation before it’s too late.
Alongside, the staff is trained to handle tasks solely to ensure that even if a single machinery stops working, there is no difference. The effect of the incident is reduced equally well with safe landing and no injuries and fatalities.
Conclusion
The concerns about Is Alaska Airlines safe is a very common question amongst the newer passengers. It is an absolutely valid question as passengers’ safety is really important. Luckily, Alaska Airlines ranks as the eight safest airline in the world. It qualifies the international standards for safety and has a clean accident record since 2000. Its last accident was recorded in the respective year and with rectifications and constant updates, Alaska Airlines is a safe airline.
