First Holistic World Safety Award at the International Paris Air Show Le Bourget Wednesday June 19th 2013

PARIS, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

For the first time, the Swiss independent rating agency « ATRA - Air Transport Rating Agency » has awarded the five best Airlines in the World according to their holistic safety profile during an event organized during the International Paris Air Show Le Bourget, 2013.

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While the International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirms a 5.9% increase of carrying passengers in one year with a strong participation of emerging countries (+16% in China; +7% in India),  Air Transport Rating Agency (ATRA) is releasing its yearly rating in Airline safety, the ATRA Airlines Holistic safety rating.

The ATRA is the only rating agency using an objective mathematical multi-criteria approach taking into account the complexity of airlines safety in order to generate robust, reproducible and meaningful results, without any arbitrary weighting systems.

Based on publicly available data sources, the ATRA has selected 15 criteria contributing to a general safety profile. Quantitative parameters (such as the mean age of the fleet) or qualitative parameters (such as the fleet homogeneity) have been analyzed to generate a synthetic safety indicator. Most of existing safety rankings are based on one single criteria: accident history. This approach is rather limited as accident rates in air transport are extremely low and do not allow to derive any valid statistical interpretations beyond simple descriptive information and case by case learnings, which are nevertheless useful for the aviation community. However, one single accident can significantly impact an airlines' reputation, whatever the causes and responsibilities.

"Taking into account only accident rates does not correspond to any statistical logic and is extremely limited. The accident of US Airways flight 1549, which performed a forced landing on the Hudson River in 2009 confirms that an external random event, such as a Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard, could occur on any flight and has nothing to do with the quality of the carrier. On the contrary, an airline's excellence could minimize the consequences of unexpected events, such as the right immediate decision made by the crew of Flight 1549 in an emergency context, leading to the absence of victims," said Ariel Beresniak, General Manager of the ATRA.

Although the European Union publishes a "black list" of airlines not reaching a certain level of safety requirements, there are real differences in terms of safety profiles among the other airlines. The innovative and unique approach of the ATRA holistic safety rating is to take into account a number of parameters, which contribute to general safety, without being necessarily directly attributed to safety management or accident history.

The quality and originality of the ATRA scientific multi-criteria approach adapted to the aviation sector, explains why a number of investors, financial analysts, insurers and travel agencies use the ATRA holistic safety rating as reference.

The ATRA has awarded the five World Best Airlines presenting the best holistic safety profiles during an event organized at the International Paris Air Show 2013 on Wednesday June 19th.

From a dataset of the 95 most important airlines in term of financial revenues, the top five airlines 2013 (2011 data) from the holistic safety profiles are:

    Rank    Airline                        Country

    1:      Delta Airlines                 USA
    2:      United Continental Holdings    USA
    3:      Southwest Airlines             USA
    4:      AMR Corporation                USA
    5:      US Airways Group               USA

The full rating report of the 95 most important airlines is available for financial professionals (investors, financial analysts, insurers, etc.) under request to the Air Transport Rating Agency.

For more information download the press kit here


Visit the official website : http://www.atra.aero

Press contact Ariel Beresniak : [email protected] , +41-22-342-1010

SOURCE Air Transport Rating Agency