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Comment by quizbiz | Hacker News Reader

Title seems unrelated to Hacker News but this is a wonderful break down of the differences between standard airlines and low fare.

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In my opinion Ryanair and Easyjet "hacked" the aviation industry creating a whole new class of low-fare product by cutting costs significantly.

But is safety still high on their priority list though ?!

Yes, lost cost carriers are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority and in the case of Ryanair the Irish equivalent.

This is something I see frequently brought up; concerns for safety on cheaper airlines, that is.

I can't speak for Europe, but in the United States, we have the FAA that pretty much dictates how safe the planes are. Flying a "discount" airline couldn't be any less safe than flying one of the majors because the FAA is dictating how they take care of the planes.

The worst airline in the world is still safer than your drive to the airport. Is safety on your priority list? (Humans are terrible at judging relative risks.)

I doubt it. And I guess safety is on everyone's priority list.

Well, what fraction of cheap flights have crashed vs. normal flights?

Easyjet, Ryanair, Westjet - no accidents. Southwest had a jet overrun a landing and kill a passenger in a car outside the airport.

Compare this with KLM (worst accident ever), BA, Air France etc. And bear in mind that budget carriers operate the most 'dangerous' routes, short hop frequent take-off landing all weather - not the 'safest' transpacific long haul routes.

To be fair, Easyjet, Ryanair, Westjet, etc. don't handle nearly as many flights as KLM, BA, Air France, etc.

Yes, which fails to add up to the difference. They get a 43% "total advantage", but the low cost ticket prices seem around 30% of the high cost tickets...

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