Survey indicates 64% of Americans believe flying is safe, down from 71% who said so last year

Summary

A new AP-NORC poll shows that Americans’ confidence in air travel has declined after several fatal plane crashes in 2025.

Only 64% now believe flying is safe, down from 71% last year, while the number of those who feel it is unsafe rose by 12%.

Confidence in pilots, air traffic controllers, and the federal government has also dropped. Recent crashes, including a deadly collision over Washington, D.C., have fueled public concern.

Meanwhile, Trump has begun firing hundreds of FAA employees, raising further safety worries.

  • otp@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    1 day ago

    I always forget what makes it the safest mode of travel.

    If it’s the safest per KM, then it doesn’t matter when it’s the only way to travel.

    If it’s the safest per trip, again, there often isn’t an alternative.

    Is it still the safest mode of travel per time spent travelling? Because I’d imagine trains generally surpass that. And hopefully walking too in most places…

    • TheRealKuni@midwest.socialEnglish
      2·
      21 hours ago

      Is it still the safest mode of travel per time spent travelling?

      I think per hour travelled bus and train edge out airplanes simply due to the sheer number of people riding those forms of transit every day. But not by much.

      According to Wikipedia, it’s 11.1 deaths per billion hours for bus, 30 for rail, and 30.8 for air.

      Edit: It’s important to note that you can’t really directly compare based on those values. Wikipedia explains why after the chart. Taking a bus from NYC to LA would be more dangerous than taking a plane from NYC to LA, even if an hour on a bus is safer than an hour on a plane, because of the number of hours the bus would take to get to its destination.