February 19, 2025
A majority of the public continue to think plane travel is safe, though their confidence is beginning to waver. The latest AP-NORC poll was conducted after an Army helicopter and plane collided near Washington D.C. on January 29 and after fatal crashes in Alaksa and Philadelphia, but before a passenger plane flipped while landing in Toronto.
Roughly 6 in 10 say traveling by plane, car, or foot is very or somewhat safe; 5 in 10 say the same about local subway or metro systems.
Men are more likely than women to view planes as safe, as are individuals ages 45 and older and college graduates.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in January 2024 after manufacturing problems with Boeing airplanes, found slightly more adults saying air travel was safe, particularly among independents.
The public is most confident in the ability of pilots to maintain air safety and they have the least amount of confidence in federal government agencies.
Fifty-five percent have “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” of confidence in federal government agencies to maintain air safety, down from 62% in 2024. The drop comes from Democrats. Under the Biden administration, 73% of Democrats were confident in federal agencies to maintain air safety. Now, 60% of Democrats are confident.
The nationwide poll was conducted February 6-10, 2025 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,112 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 4.1 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Most continue to view air travel as a safe mode of transportation” (February 2025). https://apnorc.org/projects/most-continue-to-view-air-travel-as-a-safe-mode-of-transportation/
