navylad

joe_miami

I don't "feel" that you're misinterpreting what I said; you're indisputably misrepresenting what I said. (I never said "American Airlines are safer than all other airlines," or, for that matter, "American airlines.")

It's certainly possible there's a lower chance of having coffee spilled on a non-U.S. carrier, but U.S. carriers certainly aren't cavalier about passenger safety as a general matter. The idea that anyone would or should avoid U.S. carriers, including American, over this is an extreme overreaction.

navylad

IanFromHKG

I disagree with just about every single thing you have said here.

The only one I won't categorically challenge is your contention that US airlines have "the best pilots". I don't agree with this, nor do I specifically assert that it is untrue, but since there is no data on this that I can find that proves the issue one way or the other, I will simply point out that your assertion is unsubstantiated. You may be right. Having said that, as a Hongkonger, I would add that given the reputation of Cathay's pilots, we might be able to give the US a run for its money!

While some US airlines have "among the best safety records on the planet", that doesn't apply across the board. Delta, for instance, don't make it into the top 20 of this year's safest airlines according to AirlineRatings.com (the world’s only dedicated safety website for airlines). The Top 20 features 4 US airlines, 3 Australasian airlines, 4 Asian airlines, 8 European airlines and 2 Middle Eastern airlines (yes, I know this adds up to 21 - that appears to be because Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia were lumped together in the top 20 but I have separated them for these purposes). Looking at that, given that the US has a population of some 325 million and has 4 airlines in the top bracket (1 per 81.25 million), while Europe has a population of 512 million with 8 in the top bracket (1 per 64 million), but Australasia has a population of something like 88 million with three in the top ten (1 per 29 million)... Well, I know it is pretty unscientific stuff, but I would have to say that at the continental level Australasia is looking well ahead. But of course, to be fair, you only specified a country (the US). So let's take it down to country level. Qatar, 1 per 2.6 million people. New Zealand, 1 per 4.8 million people. And so on... Again, unscientific, but still one helluva a lot more scientific than your bold, unsupported assertions.

Provided a passenger targeted his or her custom appropriately, it would be entirely possible (statistically) to increase his or her safety by actively avoiding US airlines and opting instead for others. Whether that statistical improvement would be meaningful is another question. But then that's not what you said. You said there is "no way a passenger increases his safety by actively avoiding U.S. airlines". And that is, demonstrably, bollocks.

I applaud patriotism. I am a patriot myself - a double-patriot, in fact, since I have allegiance both to my original home country (the UK) and my adoptive home (Hong Kong). However, the point at which patriotism bleeds over into delusion, hypocrisy, bigotry or blind refusal to accept reality is the point at which patriotism should stop.

VegasGambler

I was kind of shocked by this. I don't fly Delta so I don't have a horse in this race, but they haven't had an incident since 2015, and haven't had an incident that didn't involve extreme weather conditions since 1996. Given their sheer volume of flights, I don't see how they don't make the top 20.

IanFromHKG

I don't pretend to have insight into their methodology, but the criteria you specify above are by no means unique. There may be (and in fact there apparently are) plenty of other airlines with better safety records. From airlineratings.com's website:

QUOTE
THE TOP 20 SAFEST AIRLINES FOR 2019
Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qantas, Qatar, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, and United Airlines, and the Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia)
UNQUOTE

I would like to add that I have no affiliation whatsoever with airlineratings.com, I am using them merely as an information source

VegasGambler

The fact that a single website leaves some airline on or off a list does not in any way mean that one airline's record is better than another.

navylad

VegasGambler

Ok look. AA is a safe airline. If you are choosing not to fly with AA due to safety, that does seem a bit silly to me.

If you are choosing not to fly with AA because they spilled hot coffee on you and gave you horrible customer service after that, that seems reasonable. I actually don't know how this became a discussion about safety.

IanFromHKG

It does seem evidential, though. JD Power, for example, rank vehicles for reliability and dependability - would it not be reasonable to infer that a vehicle in their top 20 is likely to be better in these regards than one that isn't?

aztimm

Folks, this thread has devolved from the original intent, how to work with AA on compensation for a coffee spil/burn.

If you'd like to discuss safety records, please open a new thread.

Otherwise, please contact the moderators if you have further information to supply to theorginial intent of this thread.


aztimm