Air Safety Abroad Not Always to US Level

With two high-profile plane crashes killing a total of 281 people this month, critics are starting to wonder if the new, low-cost regional carriers throughout the globe are giving as much thought to air safety as we are in the US.

The Associated Press’ Leslie Miller is reporting that the two jetliners that crashed in Venezuela and Greece were both from new airlines that are part of a new trend of low-cost carriers “springing up around the world as governments follow the US lead and deregulate air travel.”

“There's been a raft of these low-cost carriers in South America and Asia,” Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Miller. “The question is, what's the level of oversight of these carriers?”

According to Miller, the answer is possibly not as high as in the United States, which Miller says “is experiencing the safest period in aviation history.” John Nance, a pilot and aviation analyst, told Miller there are two reasons for the United States' safety record: standards set by the Federal Aviation Administration and the realization by US airlines that they must focus on safety. However, places outside the US aren’t necessarily as focused on safety. In some smaller countries, national carriers are being replaced with “American-style deregulation,” which can lead to inadequate safety oversight. For instance, Miller says there are at least six African countries that don’t adhere to international safety standards.

“I'm not going to fly some fly-by-night carrier that's going to get me to the Bahamas the cheapest,” Goelz told Miller. “If you're letting the travel agent book and you say, ‘I want the lowest possible fare,’ that works OK in the US and Canada, but I'm not sure I'd use that in other parts of the world.”

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