Out of the 400+ airlines rated.. I'm far more interested in the bottom tier than the top tier in regards to safety.
I doubt there is really much difference in safety between the top 20 or so airlines.
But the bottom 20 on the list might be worth noting..,
So you chose your trips by how safe an airline is rathern then to a certain destination? Interesting.
Yikes. Maybe I've just been lucky with Air NZ but they've only ever been late departing once - and I was in Business Premier that time so I was more than happy to sit in my comfy chair drinking champagne and watching movies as long as they let me. ;-)
Shame they stopped the HK-London flights. I still use them where I can. Flew to Auckland with them a few months ago and because I'm Gold Elite with them, I was upgraded and treated like some sort of VIP. It was quite embarrassing actually as the rest of the cabin were all staring at me. I guess I was the only Gold Elite on that flight!
I always flew air nz too. They were late once, but they phoned the night before to warn me so I got a couple more hours in bed
According to JACDEC, Safety Ranking 2013:
1. Air New Zealand
2. Cathay Pacific Airways
3. Finnair
http://www.jacdec.de/jacdec_safety_ranking_2013.htm
the service on Cathay flight couldn't be worse. had to go with CP couple of times due to no other options, each time business class. the flight attendants can smile, that's all.
Since my boyfriend is working for the airline industry I experienced the business class of many different airlines. Best and never disappointing in terms of comfort, service, attitude, punctuality and of course safety in my opinion: Etihad, Lufthansa and Thai.
Cathay is terrible, but happy for you if you have had a pleasant flight on their board...
I've only flown Business on Thai twice and quite simply, I'll never fly with them again. They were truly shite. I get better service from Air Asia. Miserable scowling staff who have no interest in doing their jobs. I particularly didn't appreciate my 2 inch tall "wine glass" being removed before I'd even started my main course. It seems two mouthfuls of wine is your lot! Nor did I appreciate dessert being served to everyone in the Business cabin except me - or the stroppy response when I politely enquired if they were bringing me dessert. The food was pretty grim so skipping dessert was actually a good thing. If that's Business class, I hate to imagine how grim Economy is.
I've been delayed on flights around the world with Air NZ, from overnight to a few hours.
My last nightmare flight with them was 6 years ago. Held on Heathrow tarmac for 6 hours with a 3 year old in hot weather because the plane had a problem. No air con, no food, no water until the passengers started getting really angry.
Crew basically hid the whole time. Got to LA for refueling, delay meant no crew available, so a direct flight turned into having to get off the plane, go through US security and sit in the terminal for another 4 hours.
Return flight, same story in LA. No crew available, stuck for 6 hours. Get to Heathrow and because my onward journey was by train I wasn't eligible for any compensation, so having missed my train that I had allowed 5 hours to get to I had to fork out for a £90 same day ticket.
When I got off the plane after the return flight, I told the flight manager I would never fly them again, and I haven't.