by Taro Porschke
Plane accidents, especially crashes, are horrifying. So, for relatively frequent flyers such as myself (and especially those who don't have to stick that "relatively" there), the seemingly increasing number of recent catastrophic accidents is worrying.
So, is something wrong with aviation in 2025?
The Gist of Things
Here's the short answer: no.
In fact, flying is safer than it's ever been. In 2024, between January 1 and February 19, there were 123 aviation accidents of various severities. In 2025, there's only been 87. And, this downward trend has been reflected for the past couple of decades - flying is becoming safer and safer each year. It's way safer than driving, claiming over a million lives annually. Flying has taken under 80,000 lives total, since 1970.
However, the incidence of more severe accidents is oddly up this year. Last year's January to February range included 42 reported casualties, compared to this year's with far more. The collision between an American Airlines jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29 killed 67 people alone.
But, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't statistically significant at all. Considering how much airline travel grows every year and how many more people fly annually, it's amazing that numbers aren't higher. The IATA (International Air Transport Association) released statistics concerning 2024 flight demand and revealed a 10.4% increase from 2023. That's a huge increase.
With flights getting cheaper, more people filling up seats on planes and more planes flying, more collisions can be expected. So why does everything look so bad?
Social Media
Well, now that every little accident and misfortune can be recorded by anyone with a phone and posted to social media by anyone with internet access, planes are starting to look incredibly unsafe. Especially with crashes as spectacular as the recent Delta flight which flipped over, airplane accidents are gaining large amounts of traction online.
And, when you get locked into an algorithm that keeps feeding you airplane crash videos because you stay on them for a long time, you'll keep thinking that you're unsafe on your next flight.
It doesn't help to reassure people, though, that Elon Musk, head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) recently fired hundreds of FAA workers which poses a potential risk to airline safety as a whole. And, for airlines, not all media is good media. Crashes often have an outsize impact on sales, at least in the short-term and build some amounts of distrust, especially with the universalization of social media.
The Future of Aviation
Flying is not going anywhere, anytime soon - it's the safest mode of transportation, and definitely the fastest. Regardless, the incredible amount of new flyers yearly (which is only projected to grow) and increasing concerns of safety raised by social media will pose an interesting future for executives at airline companies.
Finding a balance between increasing airline travel cost-effectively and prioritizing safety will be essential, especially as unrest over flying increases, even if the unrest is unwarranted.
For now, though, take your flight. Theoretically, you could die at any moment, from anything, and the risk of dying in an airplane crash is so small that it is comparable to that absurd, theoretical scenario.
At the very least, it might help you feel better if you take out your AirPods and listen to the crew members when they're giving their safety procedures lecture at the beginning of the flight. Or, you could turn on Airplane Mode, to avoid your phone's radio waves from possibly getting in the way of critical aircraft instruments.
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