Qantas

Is Qantas safe?

Yes. No one on board a Qantas aircraft has died in an accident since 13 December 1951, when a de Havilland Dragon crashed in the New Guinea highlands, and it has never written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary a jet. That is about 75 years and millions of flights without a passenger death. We score it 89.

The score is not higher because of what Qantas flies, not how it flies it. Its fleet is one of the oldest of any major airline, and the replacements are arriving years later than they should have.

The "never crashed" record, checked

The record is real, but it needs three footnotes.

First, Qantas lost aircraft and people before the jet age: the Aviation Safety Network lists eight fatal accidents between 1927 and 1944, starting with a DH.9C at Tambo, Queensland, in 1927. Japanese aircraft shot down two Qantas-flown flying boats, Corio and Circe, in early 1942, and a Lancastrian leased from BOAC disappeared between Ceylon and the Cocos Islands in 1946 with 10 on board. Three small aircraft crashed with deaths in New Guinea in 1951, the last a DH.84 Dragon near Mount Hagen on 13 December that killed three. None of that says much about the airline today.

Second, the jet record has a close call. On 23 September 1999, QF1, a Boeing 747-400, overran the runwayRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary in a thunderstorm at Bangkok and stopped on a golf course. No one died. The aircraft was badly damaged but repaired, so it does not count as a hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found weaknesses in Qantas' procedures and training.

Third, a ground worker has died since 1951. On 24 October 1975, a tug pushing back a Qantas Boeing 707 at Sydney struck the nose gear, and the aircraft's nose crushed the tug cabin, killing the driver. Nobody on board was hurt.

Two near-disasters that shaped the airline

The incidents people remember are older than our 10-year window, but they explain why Qantas pilots are well regarded.

• QF72, 7 October 2008. A faulty air data unit on an Airbus A330 caused two sudden nose-down pitches over Western Australia. More than 100 people were hurt, most of them not wearing seat belts. The crew landed safely at Learmonth.
• QF32, 4 November 2010. A Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on an Airbus A380 burst shortly after take-off from Singapore, cutting wiring and fuel lines. The crew spent almost two hours working through the failures and landed safely. None of the 469 people on board was hurt.

The recent record is quieter. On 8 November 2024, the right engine of a Boeing 737-800 on QF520 failed at take-off speed in Sydney. The crew continued the take-off and landed on one engine about 30 minutes later; nobody was hurt. The ATSB traced the failure to a fatigue crack in a turbine blade.

How old are Qantas planes?

This is the weak spot. Crikey reported an average fleet age of about 15 years in October 2024. The domestic workhorse is the Boeing 737-800: 79 of the 138 mainline aircraft at 30 June 2026, according to the annual report, many of them delivered in the early 2000s. The A330s and A380s are of similar age.

Renewal has started. Qantas had seven Airbus A321XLRs by June 2026, more Boeing 787-9s arrive from 2027, the A330s start to retire from 2026 and the A380s from 2028, and the 737s and A330s should all be gone by the mid-2030s. The first A350-1000s for nonstop Sydney to London and New York flights are due by November 2027.

An older fleet does not mean a less safe flight here. The 737 NG and A330 both have excellent records, and CASA oversight of maintenance is strict. In practice it means more technical delays and cancellations.

Who checks Qantas?

The home regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), is among the stronger regulators in the world. Australia holds FAA IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary Category 1, and Qantas is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary as an IATA member. Australian airports are well equipped. The one recurring complaint is air traffic control staffing. In August 2026, the ATSB opened investigations into several runway incursions at Sydney, including one in which a Qantas 737 was cleared to cross a runway while a Virgin Australia 737 was taking off. The investigations are looking at the tower, not the Qantas crews.

What a Qantas passenger should know

• Check who operates the flight. A QF flight number may be flown by QantasLink (turboprops and regional jets flown by several group and contract airlines), Jetstar or a partner such as Emirates. All are well run, but this score covers Qantas mainline.
• Wear the seat belt loosely whenever seated. QF72 and many turbulence events show that unbelted passengers are the ones who get hurt.
• If you want a newer aircraft, book flights shown as A321XLR or 787-9 in the booking engine; the 737-800 is the oldest type in the fleet.

How we scored it

The accident record (97) is a point above Ryanair and easyJet (96), and oversight (92) and the Australian operating environment (88) are strong. The fleet (66) costs the most points. We expect the score to rise as the 737s and A380s are retired. Compare Singapore Airlines, which has a much younger fleet but a fatal accident in 2024.