Airbus A32x vs Boeing 737 Safety Occurrences

TL;DR

This study compares safety occurrences of Boeing 737 and Airbus A32x aircraft from 2008 to 2019, finding Boeing had more accidents and fatalities, especially due to recent Max crashes, while Airbus showed better safety trends.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of safety data between Boeing 737 and Airbus A32x, highlighting differences in accident and fatality rates over a 12-year period.

Findings

Boeing had more accidents than expected (p=0.015)

Boeing had more fatalities than expected (p<0.001)

Airbus showed better annual safety improvements

Abstract

Safety is the priority for airlines. Airlines are sensitive to passengers' perceptions of safety, having randomly assigned the Boeing 737 Max to routes and times. Historically, Boeing has been considered more reliable and safer than Airbus. Hence, it is worth asking the question, are there any differences in the safety occurrences of the core narrow-body single-aisle aircraft of Boeing and Airbus; the 737 and A32x families of aircraft. Utilizing the International Civil Aviation Organization safety occurrence data, from 2008 to 2019, these aircraft were compared in terms of occurrence type, occurrence category, phase of flight, injury level, and fatalities. It was found that Boeing had more accidents than expected, while Airbus had less (p=0.015). In terms of fatalities Boeing has had more than expected, with Airbus less (p<0.001). Looking at just accidents, only the number of fatalities was statistically significantly different. In both cases, the increased number of fatalities for Boeing appears to be the result of the two recent Boeing 737 Max accidents. Looking at the reported fatal and hull loss accident rates, it was also found that the annual reduction for the Airbus A32x aircraft were better than for the Boeing 737 aircraft.