Is Air Travel Still Safe? The Data Says Yes

With headlines about near-misses, aging control towers, and even a deadly mid-air collision in early 2025, it’s easy to wonder whether flying is as safe as it once was. But when you look beyond the headlines and into the actual numbers, the answer is clear: Air travel remains one of the safest ways to get around.

According to data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), more than 2.6 billion passengers flew on domestic commercial flights in 2024, and not a single fatality was reported in the U.S. involving a large commercial passenger airline.

That’s a striking number, especially when you consider how many planes take off and land every day in the U.S. alone. Despite the complexity of air traffic and the massive number of flights, the system works, and it works well.

What About Other Types of Flights?

While commercial passenger airlines saw zero deaths in 2024, the broader category of commercial aviation, which includes cargo planes, air taxis, and small commuter aircraft, saw 179 fatal accidents, leading to 306 fatalities, none of which involved large passenger airlines.

Most aviation deaths in the U.S. come from private aircraft, not the commercial jets that ferry travelers across the country. Small planes are flown by individuals, often under different regulations and conditions than commercial flights.

The single most notable incident involving commercial passengers in recent years occurred on January 7, 2025, when a Blackhawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger plane on a runway during a training mishap. Sixty-four people died in that crash, which brought the total aviation-related deaths in 2025 (across all categories) to 87.

It was the first fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial passenger plane since 2009, highlighting how rare these tragedies are.

Are Control Towers Still Safe?

Some recent concerns focus on the infrastructure behind air travel, especially air traffic control (ATC) towers. A momentary outage, like the 90-second communications failure at Newark Liberty International Airport on April 28, 2025, understandably gets attention. But what doesn’t always make the headlines is how well-trained pilots and crew respond.

During the Newark incident, pilots switched to standard backup procedures designed for exactly this kind of failure. Aircraft are also equipped with their own collision avoidance technology, such as TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). These onboard systems detect nearby aircraft and alert pilots to potential risks, even without input from the ground. They are considered one of the most important advances in aviation safety and are mandatory on most passenger aircraft.

Modernizing the Air Traffic System

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the middle of a large-scale modernization effort. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that 51 of the 138 ATC systems in the U.S. are labeled “unsustainable.” The concerns involve outdated technology, a shortage of spare parts, and a wave of upcoming retirements among experienced technicians.
But this doesn’t mean those systems are unsafe. Rather, they’re becoming harder to maintain and more prone to causing delays, not disasters. The FAA currently has 64 ongoing modernization projects. Some will take as long as 10 to 13 years to complete, but safety protocols remain robust in the meantime.

The Bottom Line

While it’s fair to be concerned when problems make national news, air travel remains extremely safe. The systems in place, from pilot training to backup equipment to mid-air collision avoidance, have proven to be highly effective. Accidents involving large passenger airlines are exceptionally rare, and when issues do arise, the aviation industry has a strong track record of learning from them.

So, if you’re planning a summer trip by plane, rest easy. The statistics are on your side.