AirlinesRatings.com has long been a reliable and comprehensive guide to the best and worst of aviation. Now, in an industry first, the website has introduced a very relevant dimension to its safety rating system, considering a score for airlines based on their COVID-19 protocols.
When the time comes to chose between multiple airlines, passengers are now able to log on to AirlinesRatings.com and check a COVID-19 compliance score. To pass, airlines must meet four of six criteria on accepted COVID-19 procedures, including face masks for passengers; personal protection equipment for cabin crew; modified meal service; deep clean of aircraft; social distancing on boarding; and passenger sanitizer kit.
“It was concerning to find than many airlines did not appear to comply with the COVID-19 agreed standards for protection of passengers and crew,” said the website’s Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas. “That is changing and our team is reviewing compliance on a weekly basis.”
Another new feature of the website’s rating system includes information on which airlines’ pilots have been trained correctly. This is in response to recent events where aviation incidents have been due to pilots either showing total disregard for ATC instructions or just ignoring cockpit warnings and company procedures all together.
“The Pakistan fake pilots’ license scandal has also brought into sharp focus that in some parts of the world getting a pilot’s license can be subject to abuse,” offered Thomas, who has led the website’s team in examining over 11,000 serious incident reports since 2015 to arrive at a dedicated “incident rating”.
Incidents and crashes account for five of its seven-star ratings.
Completion or compliance of audits – ICAO, IOSA, EU black list and FAA restricted list – make up an additional star.
For more info head on over to airlineratings.com
Feature image: Etihad.
