I see a lot of posts on this subreddit about people being fearful of flying a certain aircraft or a certain manufacturer. But the extreme majority of aircraft everywhere, even weird ones in remote corners of the world, have been flying safely for many years. Countless flight hours, countless cycles, millions of passengers carried.

I was on a flight with Delta today from Athens to Boston on a one-month-old, state-of-the-art A330-900neo. An aircraft I very much enjoy. And just like I know with every aircraft, the pilots and maintenance crew do an extensive series of tests and checks before each flight. And today? There was a software issue they could not resolve while we were seated on the aircraft. So the plane is not flying today. This is the why the systems exist. I am flying out tomorrow morning instead. I am more concerned with the frustrations of re-arranging my schedule and wasted time than I am with the aircraft. But a long time ago, this might have made it impossible for me to get onto a plane tomorrow. Now I just see it as evidence to give me confidence in the industry rather than a calamity.

I used to have a fear of flying, but now I fly with no problems. My wife unfortunately still struggles a fair bit with flying, specifically turbulence at cruise and the fear of a structural failure from turbulence (which is a fear I have seen a fair bit throughout groups on reddit).

Something that has helped her a lot is thinking of structural stress as a traffic light system. Green, yellow and red.

Normal flight and all turbulence, even the severe kind, stay in the green zone. The plane isn’t even close to its limits. Yellow is extreme testing conditions, and red is only reached in certification labs when they literally bend wings until they snap.

The yellow and red zones only happen in controlled factory stress tests where they bend the wings far beyond anything nature could ever throw at them. In the real world, the plane never even gets close to yellow.

So turbulence always = green, always safe.

Just thought I would post as it seemed to help her a fair bit!

Flying is much more scary with people with general anxiety especially around loss of control.

Most people at this point know that planes are MUCH safer than cars or any form of transportation, but it does not make them feel more comfortable (from my experience helping others, and my anxiety around planes as well). Sometimes it actually makes them aware how more risky a car is.

A car at the end of the day (assuming a cab), you have control around your surroundings, you can see what is happening around you and can understand the risks how to get out of an accident if it happens. Most people know a few that died in car crashes but none in an airline accident and still decide to drive. The thought of an accident while in control is much better than a plane where you have literally zero.

What really helped is diving into what makes a plane safe and how it works. Watch videos on how a plane is built and how pilots learn to fly planes and the scenarios they go through. They go through hundreds of scenarios that happen once in a lifetime, and they fly planes (the smaller ones) less safer than commercial aircrafts. The most scary part for people I know (and myself) is takeoff because you have no idea if its going alright or no, how is the pilot feeling, any issues they are not aware off or mistakes they have made? Understanding all parts of takeoff, the feel of a "dip", acceleration etc... help normalize this feeling. Personally I will pay more for a commentator in the flight deck that can give assurances during scary parts (takeoff, turbulence, landing) since pilots should be focused on flying

"Sorry for the bumps but pilots here are chilling and talking about what to have for dinner in Paris when they land, so all good!"

Finally, You are NOT flying in a metal box, you are flying in a marvel of engineering where thousands of engineers, regulators and pilots who obsess over safety every single day. You are trusting a system built on the souls of the unfortunates who have died through the safest mode of flying.

This may never solve your anxiety but allows you to replace helplessness for respect for technology and the people who dedicated their lives to it.

I am a frequent flyer and as I’ve gotten older, the anxiety has gotten worse. Just a combination of general anxiety I have and seeing sensationalized headlines.

Recently, a flight I had got canceled and rescheduled because of a problem with a plane. I was so annoyed at first because I just wanted to leave! And then I remembered — this means they’re doing exactly what I want them to do!

The redundancy, the crosschecks, all the staff reporting to each other — that’s exactly what keeps flying so much safer than other forms of travel. There are multiple chains of communication, and so many things have to happen for a situation to be dangerous, and that’s why it’s so rare. But it’s more likely for it to be annoying or uncomfortable. Same with turbulence — uncomfortable, not unsafe.

Hope this helps someone, will be flying out of MIA today after a wonderful convention! I’m so glad I got on the plane and managed the fear!

Update — landed safe and I’m home after a great trip!

Hello there! I’m working on a two-part series exploring one of the most fascinating (and often underrated) sides of aviation: flying testbeds.

In Part 1 of a new article series, I dig into the strange evolution of flying propulsion testbeds—the experimental aircraft that carried the jet engine revolution on their backs.

It’s a story of ingenuity, courage, and institutional optimism. Of bomb bays reborn into labs, and jetways repurposed for the bleeding edge. These aircraft didn’t carry bombs. They carried risk. And every modern engine owes its life to one of these Frankenstein birds.

I hope this sub doesn’t mind a short piece on these weird but wonderful aircraft, and I would be more than happy to read of any interesting aircraft that I may have missed out on.

Look, first thing I want to say is that although the fear of flying is statistically irrational, the rationality of the fear makes a lot of sense. I want to share with you the things I think about that help me get through it. I fly for business every couple of years and every time it makes me nervous.

When that plane gets going and takes off, my jaw drops how fast we get going and the lift it generates. It is simply amazing!! Sure the plane could crash, but it likely won’t. Like, the chances are quite literally almost 0. There are 45,000 flights a day in the US and almost nothing bad has happened since 2009. But I get it, if something DOES happen, it’ll likely be fatal. Even though that’s not necessarily true, I understand the sentiment (missile with wings vs fender bender)

The way I look at it is when we get in our cars, we almost never think “I could crash and die!!” Because we are in control of the car, we trust our own judgement. Are you telling me you follow every law, and never make a mistake on the road? How long has it been since your car was fully inspected? Is someone observing your driving habits? Well, pilots and planes are looked at on, and after every flight.

So obviously, the fear is in the lack of control. How many things do you do where you’re not in control? How many things could you control, but simply choose not to?? Way more than you think. It’s part of life. But not aviation. They got that shit locked down, air tight. The screws on the plane are tracked down to the mines the ore came from.

Accept that you’re not in control of this marvelous feat of engineering, and that is a good thing, because you would probably fuck it all up. On the tarmac I think about all those who lost their lives in tragic accidents, that this is what it was like for them before it happened. The odds are in your favor, but still, appreciate the privilege to fly, and those who paid in blood to make it safer. Just like a car on the freeway going 65mph, you really don’t feel much other than some bumps at cruising speed. Even if you do, it’s all part of the plan. When that plan takes off and lands it’s exciting, and so much goes into make every part of it safe. When the plan banks what seems to be “hard” or “steep” it’s all part of a plan to save fuel and make the trip shorter. It’s exciting and you should smile at its ability to scare you.

So many people on the plane don’t care because they aren’t afraid. Your fear of not losing your life is good, but don’t let it keep you from living. I think a little bit of fear keeps things interesting in life. Enjoy your fear. Let it excite you and your appreciation of life.