Airlines/USA
Is United Airlines safe?
A major US legacy carrier. Its last genuine fatal accident was United 585 (1991, a 737 rudder-hardover, 25 lost). The September 2001 hijackings were an operator-independent security failure and are not counted against the airline.
A modelled estimate and protected opinion, not a factual safety verdict. Informational only, not safety or travel advice, provided as-is. See our terms & disclaimer.
Operator safety tier
Elite
Modelled fatal-accident risk on the order of 1 in 12 million flights.
A model estimate from validated signals (the dominant factor in a flight's safety), not a measurement of this airline's own flight history. IOSA-registered; last fatal accident 1991 (35y ago). Full methodology.
Safety signals
Fleet
The actual aircraft in United Airlines's fleet
Individual airframes we hold for United Airlines, with build years taken from public registries and sourced references. These are the specific aircraft you might be boarding, not an industry average. Where we cannot date enough of a subfleet we leave the age blank rather than estimate it.
| Aircraft | In our registry | Average age | Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-900 | 148 | 14.6 yrs | 2001 to 2016 |
| Boeing 737-800 | 136 | 22.7 yrs | 1998 to 2017 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | 89 | 4.3 yrs | 2018 to 2026 |
| Embraer ERJ-145XR | 83 | 22.3 yrs | 2002 to 2006 |
| Airbus A320 (ceo) | 82 | 27 yrs | 1993 to 2006 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 79 | 3.2 yrs | 2019 to 2025 |
| Embraer 175 | 76 | 8.2 yrs | 2014 to 2021 |
| Boeing 777-200 / 200ER | 74 | 27.2 yrs | 1995 to 2010 |
| Airbus A319 | 71 | 25.5 yrs | 1997 to 2007 |
| Airbus A321neo | 61 | 1.6 yrs | 2023 to 2026 |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | 58 | 6.5 yrs | 2014 to 2026 |
| Embraer 175 | 57 | 10.9 yrs | 2014 to 2017 |
We can date 148 of the 148 Boeing 737-900 airframes we hold for United Airlines. They average 14.6 years old, built between 2001 and 2016.