Originally Posted by
NFeldberg
Stay off Russian and African (Congo region) airliners. They are infamous for having poor safety standards and very rarely enforce them. If its an airline you haven't heard much about, I would do some research on the age of their fleet. How old are their airplanes? How much money does the airline make? How long have they been in business? Why is that important? Older airplanes require more frequent maintenance and they are expensive to operate. If the airline isn't making money, how are they affording to maintain their airplanes? Air travel is very safe, however, never assume every airline out there is operating at 100% in regards to safety.
What a generalization. When's the last time a mainline Aeroflot flight had a fatality in the last 20 years? Was it more than any of the US or European based carriers?
Transaero or S7 - similar stories.
I will fly on Aeroflot, S7 or Transaero any day of the week. You cannot be so blind as to assume that every airline in a country is following identical standards. These carriers operate into western countries and have to conform not just to domestic regulations but foreign ones as well.
Would I fly all Russian airlines without hesitation? No. I wouldn't. I'd cast a suspect eye on Red Wings or any other Russian carrier outside of those three. But would I issue a blanket statement on all Russian airlines? No. That would be ignorant.
Like
Javelin said, you have to take into account improvements and progress that the airlines make (ie Korean Air).