[toomanybeersies]

Air Asia is certainly a budget carrier, but unlike other budget carriers, they actually run a tight ship.

I've flown with them quite a few times, and know plenty of other people who have flown with them, and none of us have had any complaints. The planes are bare-bones, the seats are small, and you pay for everything on the plane, but their service is perfectly fine, and they usually run on time, or close enough.

I can't say the same for Jetstar, all I hear about them is complaints. They seem to always be late, or cancelling flights, or screwing up their customer service and screwing over their customers. I will go out of my way to fly with another airline if possible.

[ithinkinstereo]

You have it backwards. JetStar > AirAsia in terms of safety.

[Zpalmtree]

Considering the minuscule chance of crashing, the parent might put other factors before safety when picking an airline.

[ithinkinstereo]

Yes, I see that; but toomanybeersies was replying to jpatokal's post about Air Asia's safety record, so I assumed part of his comment about AA "running a tight ship" is in relation to that.

SE Asia carriers -- specifically Indonesian and to a lesser extent Malaysian operators -- have a reputation for cutting corners and poor training. Garuda Airlines, Indonesia's flagship, was even banned from flying to Europe by the EU for poor safety standards [1].

Here's another article ranking airlines by safety: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/The-worlds-safest-air... It's worth nothing that JetStar is a subsidiary of top-ranked Qantas.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda_Indonesia#European_ban

[toomanybeersies]

As jpatokal said though, AirAsia has one of the better safety records of Asian airlines.

I was just adding that they're not just safer (apparently), but also a more pleasant airline to fly with.

Let's not forget that Qantas also managed to have a turbine failure in 2010. Even if you fly with a reputable airline, there's always the risk of terrorist attacks, suicidal pilots, or getting shot down. At the end of the day, no matter what airline you're with, it's probably safer than driving a car.

You're more likely to die in one of the destinations that AirAsia serves than on the plane itself, ~30 Australians die every year in Bali alone.

[jpatokal]

...and my whole point was that Air Asia is a cut above the average Indonesian carrier, some of which are seriously shoddy, like the late, unlamented https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Air. By contrast, Air Asia's maintenance is done by a subsidiary of Air France/KLM:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/business/corporate/3030...

Also, FWIW, the EU had a blanket blacklist on all Indonesian carriers at one point.