Originally posted by robertson:
How much does safety affect your choice of airline? If one airline is cheap but has had a few crashes, and another is more expensive but fatality free, which one do you/ should you choose? Me, I would go with the cheap fare. Just interested in what other people think
Good question. I have flown on cheap fares with airlines such as Garuda Indonesia and enjoyed it. I'm booked with them again in July to fly Jakarta-Frankfurt.
Where I DO have a concern is with many of the no-frills carriers: while complying with regulations for 1 cabin crew for each 50 pax, it means you can end up with a crew of three on a 737. In an emergency, who gets the 4th door? (given that slides do not inflate instantly and the door has to be guarded while this occurs...)
I would rather take the cheapest fare on an airline with at least a ratio of one crew per door (and this is usually, in Europe at least, on those airlines with a Business and/or First Class).