No, It's Not Getting More Dangerous To Fly

FiveThirtyEight Politics

ABC News

Politics, News

4.6 • 20.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It has been a difficult month for Americans afraid of flying. On Jan. 29, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. It was the first major U.S. commercial airline crash in more than 15 years and in the weeks since, there has been coverage of more plane crashes, accidents and near misses across the country. If headlines like these give you anxiety, you are not alone. According to polling from the AP, the share of Americans who say flying is somewhat or very unsafe has increased, from 12 percent a year ago to 20 percent this month. And that poll found something else. The decrease in trust Americans have in flying is not spread evenly across partisan groups. Republicans’ feelings about air travel remain virtually unchanged from 12 months ago, while trust has fallen among Democrats and independents. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen discusses the data with CNN Senior Data Reporter and 538 alumnus himself Harry Enten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Adobe Express makes it quick and easy to create everything I need for my business, from social posts,
0:06.6	TikToks and flyers, all in just a few clicks. Get Adobe Express for free. Search for Adobe Express to find out more.
0:15.1	I can see the joy on your face. Is this the Gayle and Drew effect? It is the Gayle and Drew effect.
0:21.4	It's also known as the makeup effect.
0:22.8	I mean, I was going to say, stunning.
0:24.4	You don't look a day over, I don't know, 30.
0:27.1	You know what?
0:27.9	I got to make sure I'm keeping it young,
0:30.3	because if I keep it young on the outside,
0:32.7	it reminds me to keep it young on the inside. I don't know how you keep it young on the inside, given that you don't eat vegetables, Harry.
0:37.9	I eat some vegetables.
0:39.2	I like fish.
0:40.2	I like salmon.
0:41.2	Harry, I hate, absolutely hate to break it to you.
0:46.2	Salmon is not a vegetable.
0:59.0	Hello and welcome to the 538 politics podcast.
1:05.1	I'm Gailen Druk, and it's been a difficult month for Americans afraid of flying.
1:13.2	On January 29th, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people.
1:18.0	It was the first major commercial airline crash in more than 15 years.
1:21.9	And in the weeks since, there's been coverage of more plane crashes.
1:25.0	A medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, killing 7.
1:28.5	A small passenger plane crashed near Norm Alaska, killing 10. A Delta flight landed in Toronto, killing seven. A small passenger plane crashed near Nome, Alaska, killing 10.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 16 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ABC News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ABC News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.