by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:55 PM ET, Fri February 9, 2024
After an Alaska Airlines flight made headlines worldwide for losing a door panel on a flight from Oregon to California, it would be understandable if the public had concerns about flying.
But it seems travelers are largely unfazed by the incident, which involved an emergency landing for the Boeing MAX aircraft. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research seems to indicate as much.
The poll found that 71 percent (or more than seven in 10) respondents still think that air travel is very or somewhat safe. A mere 12 percent of respondents said it's unsafe.
While the public thinks flying remains a sound way to travel, the poll also showed that only about two in 10 U.S. adults have “a great deal of confidence” that airplanes are being properly maintained or that they’re safe from structural faults.
U.S. adults offered a vote of support, however, for pilots and air traffic controllers. About 84 percent of respondents expressed confidence in pilots and 81 percent said they have confidence in controllers.
Additionally, 74 percent said they also have confidence in commercial airlines, and 71 percent expressed the same sentiment for the plane manufacturers. The lowest confidence was reserved for the federal government, coming in at 62 percent among U.S. adults.
When it comes to government agency oversight of air travel in particular, just 23 percent said they feel very confident that appropriate safety regulations have been enacted by oversight agencies. About 48 percent feel moderately comfortable with the safety regulations government agencies have put in place. Only 7 percent of respondents said they are not at all comfortable with the level of safety regulation in place.
The survey also covered such topics as how the public feels about the threat of terrorist attacks on planes. About 45 percent said they feel moderately confident that air travel is safe from terrorist attacks, while 24 percent said they feel very confident that is the case.
The release of the new AP survey comes on the heels of the FAA chief criticizing the oversight process at Boeing manufacturing facilities. While testifying before congress earlier this week, FAA Administrator Micheal Whitaker told a House subcommittee that Boeing
is operating under pressure to produce too many planes and safety is
being sacrificed.
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