by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 11:30 AM ET, Wed January 21, 2026
Both Air Canada and WestJet were included in Airline Ratings' annual ranking of the top 25 safest airlines in the world. Air Canada placed number 22 in the full-service airline category and WestJet ranked number 22 in the low-cost airline category.
The site emphasizes how narrow a gap exists in the rankings, with numerical differences representing very small differences, and stressing they do not indicate a gap in safety.
“What stands out this year is how little separates the leaders,” says Sharon Petersen, Airline Ratings CEO. “Less than four points covered positions one through 14, and at the very top the margins were even tighter, with just 1.3 points separating positions one through six in the full service category.”
Peterson pondered if the methods the aviation group has used in the past may need to change in order to better reflect the safety of airlines and air travel. “We may be reaching a point where traditional rankings risk being misleading, and where grouping airlines into performance tiers provides a more accurate reflection of reality,” Petersen says. “All airlines in the Top 25 are world leaders in aviation safety, and claims that one is significantly safer or less safe than another are both sensationalist and false.”
When compiling the rankings, Airline Ratings explains that a lot of the criteria remains consistent each year and considers “incident rates adjusted for the total number of flights, fleet age, serious incidents, pilot training and international safety audits.” This year the organization put a greater emphasis on turbulence prevention, as it remains the leading cause of in-flight injuries. “Transparency from airlines is also critical to this process,” Petersen says.
You can view the full listings on Airline Ratings website.
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