The answer is yes, Turkish Airlines is a pretty safe airline. And here’s why… From when Turkish Airlines was founded in 1933 (about 90 years ago), it has only experienced a total of 19 major accidents. Unfortunately, a total of 938 people have lost their lives over those 90 years as a result. However, with the airline carrying multi-millions of passengers every year (83.4 million passengers in 2024), the chances of something happening are almost 0% – that’s a pretty strong safety record.
The airline is IOSA-registered and a member of Star Alliance, alongside airlines like Air Canada, Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, and United Airlines.
In general, the risk of dying in a plane crash for the average American is about 1 in 11 million. When you compare that to the risk of dying in a car crash for the average American, which is about 1 in 5,000, you can clearly see how unlikely it is to be killed by a plane crash.
If you’re curious to know when Turkish Airlines’ most recent incident was, that happened in 2019 on Flight 467 when the plane tried to land in severe wind conditions in Ukraine and suffered a nose gear collapse. You’ll be happy to know – all passengers and crew members successfully deplaned without any injuries.
Turkish Airlines, just like any other airline, does super rarely experience minor incidents like bird run-ins, lightening strikes, bad turbulence, etc. In 2024, 16 minor incidents were reported. In 2023, 14 minor incidents were reported. In 2022, 13 minor incidents were reported. Keeping in mind that Turkish Airlines flies many thousands of flights every single day, the yearly minor incident rate remains basically 0.
In terms of hijackings and terrorism, the last one was in 2011 flying from Oslo to Istanbul. The attempted hijacker had been denied asylum status in Norway and allegedly really didn’t want to leave. Since 2011, there haven’t been any hijackings or terrorism on Turkish Airlines.
Want to travel as safely as possible? You might like this anti-theft backpack found on Amazon (I use this brand myself and have never been pickpocketed).
Is Turkish Airlines safe when it comes to COVID-19?
As much of the world has now relaxed COVID-19 precautions and restrictions, so has Turkish Airlines. As of early 2025, the airline no longer requires masks for all destinations, a vaccination, or a PCR test.
Right after you board, crew members used to hand out sanitation kits so you could clean your seat and hands. However, on long flights, they now only distribute typical long-distance flying kits (slippers, toothbrush, toothpaste, eye mask, ear plugs, etc.). Drinks and food are served like normal.
Having flown long-distance with Turkish Airlines most recently in January 2025, I can share that flying with this airline has returned to its pre-pandemic experience. The only difference is now some people wear masks. On my recent TK flights, roughly 80% of passengers chose not to wear masks for most, if not all, of the journey.
As always, you’re best protected if you wear a mask for as much of the flight as possible, sanitize your seat, regularly sanitize your hands, don’t touch your hands to your face, and open your seat’s air vents to the max.
Is Turkish Airlines safe for Americans?
Yes, Turkish Airlines is super safe for Americans! In 2022, the airline carried about 2.5 million Americans. Turkish Airlines has aggressively expanded its U.S. network, now serving 14 destinations and aiming for up to 20 in the near future.
If you’re flying from the U.S., Canada, or Europe, all instructions (including the flight safety video) and communication from crew are always in both Turkish and English so that essentially everyone can understand. You can talk in English to the crew and they’ll understand you without a problem.
As a U.S. passport holder, I’ve personally never experienced discrimination or rudeness while traveling with Turkish Airlines. Airline workers and flight crew are used to foreigners and always friendly to everyone. Also, the airline typically flies newer planes (especially on long-distance trips), so you can feel more comfortable knowing that your plane has newer technology.
Is Turkish Airlines safe for Jewish People?
Yes, the airline won’t discriminate or treat Jewish people differently than everyone else. It’s totally safe to fly with Turkish Airlines if you’re Jewish or of Jewish descent.
From 2007 to 2022, Israeli airlines did not fly to Turkey because of bad relations between the two countries, although Turkish Airlines did fly to Israel. Flights resumed between 2022 and 2023, and then shut down between the two countries again.
Turkish Airlines is expected to resume flights to Israel in October 2025.
Is Turkish Airlines a reliable airline?
In general, yes! Similar to all other airlines, it depends on the global current events. In March 2024, Turkish Airlines flights were on-time an average of 84.03% of the time. In 2023, flights were canceled at an average rate of 0.93%, which is about the same as Southwest Airlines’ flight cancellation rate.
As long as there aren’t any major global destabilization events, on-time and cancellation rates stay about the same through recent years.