Milliman’s 2024 review of the US general aviation insurance market reported 498 fatalities plus serious injuries, the lowest in 43 years, and losses of about $1.7B, a 22-year high and more than double 2014. Those are Milliman’s findings.
Two things can be true at once
Fewer people are being hurt, and the line is paying more. The gap is cost per claim: what it costs to repair a modern airframe, to replace one, and to resolve a liability claim when one arises. Part of the rise in losses is growth in the market itself, since premium grew sharply over the same years. The rest is severity.
What nobody measures
Milliman states it is not aware of a publicly available analysis of US general aviation claim severity trends. Severity is the half of the loss that nobody publishes, and it is the half ALEX™ models, aircraft by aircraft.
What it means
A rate plan that tracks accident frequency alone will read the last decade as good news. The losses say otherwise. Severity is where the line is being won or lost, and it is the least measured part of it.