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Is it safe to fly in the US?
I wouldn't.
It's so safer than driving but a large margin, but it's a smaller margin than it used to be.
⏚ ⸫ @Adventurer Less than ever
@Adventurer Even with a valid visa and a booked return trip, you can end up in detention in inhuman conditions.
@Adventurer you need to use an airplane. Don't try without one. But also: you will have to interact with TSA and maybe border control, and I don't think that's safe. Take the train.
@mcr314
I needed a laugh. Thank you.
@Adventurer is it the safest way to travel between US cities, probably not, taking the train is safer.
Is it safer than driving between cities, tough call, but probably.
Is it the least safe place to fly in the world, not this week. But this statement isn't safe to assume in 6 months.
Is it as safe as flying in Europe, Australia or other very safe countries to fly in? No.
That was a very thoughtful answer and I really appreciate it. The train ride is 22 hours and the plane is only one and a half hours plus about 3 hours of driving. The price is really comparable. I can make the time available and I will definitely see parts of the beaten path.
@Adventurer yeah, US trains suck about as much as Australian trains (for intercity travel).
@LovesTha Only the NE corridor from Boston to Wash. DC is reasonably covered by trains. But it's expensive. @Adventurer
@Adventurer
[Context: I'm fascinated by aviation so keep up with what's going on, and a lot of that is US centric even when I'm in Europe, but I'm not an expert.]
Short term: Yes.
Medium/longer term: Probably not, but let's see what happens...
At this point, I would probably be more hesitant than before, but if you have a good reason to travel, objectively the flying safety bit hasn't really changed at this point. In 3-6 months? Who knows with the speed the current government is trying to break everything.
Other replies have pointed out the comparisons to other forms of transport which are very worth keeping in mind.
One important thing to be aware of, is that smaller incidents where nobody are hurt happen on a daily basis (when there are 130000+ global flights a day it can't always be perfect), and most of the time nothing happens to the people on board due to the layers of safety systems. When one of the relatively rare accidents happen in commercial aviation with loss of life, media starts reporting all the smaller incidents which they hadn't before, so it seems like a larger increase in incidents than it really is.
Do note that all of the above is about the flying part. I personally don't expect to go to the US for at least a decade, as it's not safe for me while being trans, for all the bits that's not about being in the air. For people in the US, you probably know this part better for your circumstances.