White House: Trump has ‘raised the bar for our nation’s aviation safety’

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that President Trump has “raised the bar” for commercial airline safety after Trump took credit for the safest year of airline travel.

Sanders was asked whether former President Obama deserved credit for there being no fatal passenger airline crashes in the U.S. since 2009.

“The president has raised the bar for our nation’s aviation safety and security,” Sanders told reporters during a White House press briefing, echoing comments made earlier in the day by fellow spokesman Raj Shah.

{mosads}Sanders touted Trump’s announcement of a plan to “modernize air traffic control,” which stalled in Congress, and new “enhanced security measures” put in place by the Department of Homeland Security.

“The president is very happy that there were no commercial airline deaths in 2017 and we hope that that trend continues well into 2018 and beyond,” she said.

In a tweet Tuesday, Trump took credit for 2017 being the safest year on record for commercial aviation.

Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018

There has not been a fatal passenger airline crash in the U.S. since 2009, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The last deadly commuter plane crash took place in Hawaii in 2013. 

Airlines recorded zero deaths on commercial passenger jets worldwide in 2017, according to a report published by the group Aviation Safety Network.  

There were 10 fatal commercial passenger and cargo plane crashes that killed 44 people in the last year. Those crashes involved small propeller planes and cargo aircraft.