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Good News for Airlines and Boeing as Flying Gets Safer

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: September 2, 2024 8:32 am

Last Updated: September 2, 2024 9:40 am

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• A recent analysis confirms that flying is substantially safer than driving a car.
• That might help the perceptions of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and the carriers who buy its planes.
• Also: Discover the Next Nvidia.

Despite the ongoing news about the safety risks of flying, new research shows what experts have said for decades. Flying is substantially safer than driving a car. Commercial aircraft incidents virtually never kill people.

A new study published by Science Direct, titled “Airline safety: Still getting better?” reports that the risk of death per boarding was one in 13.7 million from 2018 through 2022. “Death risk per boarding fell at about the same sharp rate over 2018-22 as in the previous half-century, namely, 50% per decade.”

Low airline traffic during the worst COVID-19 pandemic could affect the figures. Some carriers were shut down for months.

The data might be good news for Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), although the effects on fliers will likely be minimal. People who worry about the safety of Boeing planes are not expected to see the study at all. Because of accidents on Boeing planes, the public is likely to have an anxiety-driven perception that could last for years. The concern will probably spill over to carriers because they are the ones who fly the planes.

See How Many Airline Incidents Boeing and Airbus Have Had Each Year