Ranking
Safest Airlines in Latin America 2026
Every airline we cover whose home country is in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean or South America. Scores combine the accident record over the last 20 years with the regulator, fleet, serious incidents and network. Flybondi has had no flights since August 2026 and stays listed while its page carries a notice. Open any airline for the data and sources behind its score.
Updated · Scores update with each page
The ranking
Azul
Azul has had no fatal accident and lost no aircraft since its first flight in December 2008, and its fleet averages 7.3 years. It left Chapter 11 in February 2026. Points go for a run of runway incidents, including an overrun at Salvador in 2023 and a near collision at Congonhas in April 2026.
Score 86, grade ASky Airline
Sky Airline has flown scheduled routes in Chile since 2001 without a fatal accident or a written-off aircraft, and since 2025 its 36 jets are all Airbus neos. Two damaging 737-200 accidents in 2012, one caused by an unstable approach, and recent engine and separation incidents cost it points.
Score 86, grade ACopa Airlines
Copa has not had a fatal accident since flight 201 crashed in the Panamanian jungle in 1992, and it has not lost an aircraft since 1993. It flies only Boeing 737s from one hub in Panama City. Recent blemishes are a runway excursion at home in 2022 and a wrong-runway approach at Lima in 2025.
Score 85, grade AArajet
Arajet, the Dominican low-cost airline, has flown since 2022 without an accident, and every aircraft is a new Boeing 737 MAX 8. It is an IATA member with IOSA audits and its regulator is in FAA Category 1. The record is short, so the score rests on less evidence than for older airlines.
Score 84, grade BJetSMART
JetSMART Chile has flown since 2016 without a fatal accident or a written-off aircraft, and its Airbus fleet averages about 3 years. Two hard landings, at Puerto Montt in 2020 and Montevideo in 2024, and a short track record keep it below the longest-clean airlines.
Score 84, grade BJetSMART Argentina
JetSMART Argentina, the JetSMART group's Argentine airline, has flown since April 2019 without an accident, and its Airbus A320 and A321neo fleet averaged under 7 years in April 2026. Its incidents are mostly bird strikes and storms, handled by the book; a short history and fast growth keep it below the top band.
Score 83, grade BVolaris
Volaris has never had a fatal accident or written off an aircraft since it began flying in 2006, and its all-Airbus fleet averages 6.6 years. It loses points for Mexico's two years in FAA Category 2 and for a 2023 tail strike and four serious incidents investigated by Mexico's accident board since 2022.
Score 83, grade BAerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas, the state-owned flag carrier, has had no fatal accident and lost no aircraft in the last 20 years; the group's last fatal crash was Austral flight 2553 in 1997. Points go for in-flight engine failures, turbulence injuries on long flights and a fleet averaging about 12 years.
Score 82, grade BGol
Gol's last fatal accident was flight 1907 in 2006, when a business jet with its transponder off struck its 737 over the Amazon; the other crew and air traffic control were blamed. Gol has lost no aircraft since. It flies only Boeing 737s, regulated by Brazil's ANAC, and left Chapter 11 in June 2025.
Score 82, grade BWingo
Wingo, Copa's Colombian low-cost brand, has had no accident since its 2016 launch. It flies on the certificate of AeroRepública (Copa Colombia), which wrote off an Embraer 190 at Santa Marta in 2007 without deaths. Its ten 737-800s come from Copa's fleet, and recent engine problems were handled well.
Score 81, grade BAvianca
Avianca had a terrible run between 1983 and 1990, with three fatal crashes and a bombing, but no fatal accident in the 36 years since. It flies Airbus A320-family jets and Boeing 787s under Colombia's Aerocivil, and since 2022 has been part of Abra Group with Brazil's Gol.
Score 80, grade BCaribbean Airlines
Caribbean Airlines, Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned airline, has had no fatal accident since it began flying in 2007. It wrote off a 737-800 that overran the runway at Georgetown in 2011, and in January 2025 one of its ATR turboprops lost a nose wheel while another ran an engine dry before landing.
Score 79, grade BAeroméxico
No one on board an Aeroméxico flight has died since a 1986 mid-air collision over Los Angeles; a 2000 overrun at Reynosa killed four people on the ground. Its latest hull loss was an Aeroméxico Connect E190 at Durango in 2018. Its fleet is young (8.6 years) and Mexico regained FAA Category 1 in September 2023.
Score 78, grade BBahamasair
Bahamasair, the state-owned airline of the Bahamas, has no fatal accident in the Aviation Safety Network records and no flying hull loss since 2007. Its four Boeing 737-700s average more than 20 years, its ATR turboprops are often grounded waiting for engines, and a 2026 gear failure shows the strain.
Score 78, grade BViva Aerobus
Viva Aerobus has never had a fatal accident. It lost an A320 in 2021 when a badly overhauled nose gear broke at Puerto Vallarta, and its crews have since lined up with the wrong runway at JFK and a taxiway at Chicago. It is not an IATA member, and Mexico was in FAA Category 2 from 2021 to 2023.
Score 76, grade BAndes Líneas Aéreas
Andes, the Argentine charter airline best known for student trips to Bariloche, has had no fatal accident and lost no aircraft since its first flight in 2006. Points go for a small fleet of 737s averaging about 16 years, no IOSA audit, a 2018 maintenance error behind two engine shutdowns, and years of financial strain.
Score 75, grade BFlybondi
Flybondi, Argentina's first low-cost airline, has had no fatal accident since 2018, but two Boeing 737-800s were damaged in tail strikes, in 2018 and 2024. Investigators found gaps in its early dispatch, training and safety systems. It stopped flying in August 2026 and is in creditor protection.
Score 71, grade BLATAM Airlines
LATAM is a group of airlines in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay, each with its own certificate. TAM 3054 killed 199 at São Paulo in 2007, and an AIRES 737, on the certificate LATAM Colombia now flies, crashed at San Andrés in 2010, killing two. All its airlines passed a joint IOSA audit in 2025.
Score 71, grade BBoliviana de Aviación (BoA)
Bolivia's state airline has had no fatal accident and no written-off aircraft since it began flying in 2009. An old Boeing 737 fleet, repeated gear and cabin pressure faults, a 2019 regulator ban on its oldest jets at La Paz and a 2026 crisis that left about 10 of 19 aircraft flying weigh it down.
Score 69, grade CTAMep
Bolivia's military airline, now a state company with a civil certificate, has had no accident since it began civil flights in 2019. Its record before that, as an Air Force unit outside civil oversight, included a written-off F27. Today it flies a single Avro RJ70 with no spare and no IOSA audit.
Score 66, grade CEcojet
Bolivia's second domestic airline after BoA has had no fatal accident and lost no aircraft since it began flying in 2013. Avro RJ jets averaging 28 years, three engine failures on take-off in 2021, a 2022 grounding of its whole fleet and no IOSA audit pull the score down.
Score 64, grade C
Which airlines are on this list
The rule is the airline's home country, the country that issues its operating certificate and is home to its head office. We include Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. Groups count once, under the airline page we score: LATAM covers its airlines in six countries, while JetSMART and JetSMART Argentina are listed apart because each flies on its own certificate. Wingo is listed apart from Copa Airlines because it flies on a separate Colombian certificate, while Copa flies under Panama's regulator.
Flybondi stopped flying in August 2026. It still holds its certificate and says it will fly again, so under our rule for suspended airlines its page stays live with a notice, and it stays on this list with the score it earned while it flew. If the certificate is revoked, the company is liquidated or it goes about six months without flights, we archive the page and it leaves the list.
How the order is built
Each airline is scored on five factors. The accident record carries 40%: fatal accidents and lost aircraft over the last 20 years, measured against how much the airline flies. Regulatory oversight counts for 20%, serious incidents and fleet for 15% each, and the network for 10%. The list is those scores sorted from the highest down, so when we update an airline page the order here moves with it. Factors and thresholds are on how we score airlines.
What the top Latin American airlines have in common
Most airlines near the top have had no fatal accident in our 20-year window and fly young, single-family fleets. Copa has not had a fatal accident since 1992 and flies only Boeing 737s from one hub, Azul has had none since it began flying in 2008, and Aerolíneas Argentinas has lost no aircraft in 20 years. Avianca has had no fatal accident since 1990, but its domestic network uses some of the hardest airports in the region. Gol's mid-air collision over the Amazon in 2006, which investigators blamed on the other crew and air traffic control, now falls just outside our 20-year window, and Gol has lost no aircraft since.
The gaps come from single events and short records. LATAM carries the TAM 3054 crash at São Paulo in 2007, which killed 199. Newer airlines such as Arajet, which has flown only since 2022, have clean records, but those records rest on fewer years of evidence.
What the score does not tell you
A score describes the airline's record and safety system, not the weather on your route or the airport you land at. Mountain airports, high-altitude hubs and the Caribbean hurricane season matter more for one flight than small gaps between scores. Check "operated by" on your booking, since several groups sell flights flown by sister airlines on other certificates. For a single trip, look up your flight number for the aircraft type and its own score, and see the world ranking to compare these airlines with the rest.
Questions
What is the safest airline in Latin America?
The airline at the top of this list has the highest score we give any Latin American airline right now. The airlines near the top are close together, so treat them as a group rather than a strict order. Each airline page shows which factor separates them, often a single Hull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary or a run of serious incidents.
Is it safe to fly in South America?
On the main airlines, yes. Most of the airlines on this list have had no fatal accident in the last 20 years, and most are IOSAThe 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. The harder part is the terrain. Bogotá sits at 2,600 metres, and domestic routes in the Andes use mountain airports with short runways and fast-building afternoon storms.
Are Latin American budget airlines safe?
Many are. Volaris, JetSMART, Sky Airline, Arajet and Wingo have never had a fatal accident, and most fly young Airbus or Boeing fleets. Viva Aerobus has no fatal accident either, but it lost an A320 in 2021 and is not an IATA member. The budget airline ranking compares them with low-cost airlines worldwide.
Is Flybondi still flying?
No. Flybondi has operated no commercial flights since early August 2026, and its operating company filed for creditor protection in Buenos Aires on 2 October 2026. It says it is working to fly again but has given no date. Its page describes its record while it flew and will be updated if flights restart.
Is LATAM one airline?
No. LATAM is a group of airlines in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay, and each holds its own operating certificate under its own national regulator. Your booking shows the operating airline. Our LATAM page scores the group and lists each airline's certificate and regulator.
Are Mexican airlines safe?
Mexico lost FAA FAA 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 in 2021 and regained it in September 2023, and that period still counts on the oversight factor of Mexican airlines. Aeroméxico has had no death on board since 1986, and Volaris and Viva Aerobus have never had a fatal accident.