Flying on a plane can be stressful regardless of whether or not people are regular flyers.
The luggage storage website Bounce.com recently conducted a survey asking over 2,000 travelers what makes them “uneasy or uncomfortable” during a flight, while also determining which airlines are considered the “best” for nervous flyers.
The list was created and ranked based on how many passengers considered an experience to be “uneasy” or “uncomfortable.”
Over half of the survey’s respondents (51.60 percent) said that screaming children contributed to their flight anxiety. The next highest factor was turbulence at 51.50 percent.
The third highest factor was “loud people around you” at 46.70 percent, while the fourth highest involved delays at 40.30 percent. The fifth factor was “smelly toilets” at 39.80 percent.
Other factors that contributed to flight anxiety included: An unfriendly cabin crew, overcrowded aisles, randomly allocated seating, the cabin being too hot or too cold, busy toilets, too much alcohol being served, a pushy cabin crew trying to sell items, and strong-smelling foods.
Bounce.com also used the survey data to determine which airline features make passengers feel the least “uneasy or uncomfortable,” and compared major airlines using these factors, giving each of them a “stress-free score” from a scale of one to 1 to 10.
The best airline for anxious passengers was Singapore Airlines with a stress-free score of 8.94 out of 10, with Bounce citing the airline’s wide economy seats to give flyers more room to sleep or relax on longer flights. The airline also offers in-flight meditation playlists for people to take their mind off any anxiety-inducing situations around them.
Korean Air achieved a stress-free score of 8.82 and Cathay Pacific had a stress-free score of 8.57.
Some airlines — like British Airways — have offered courses dedicated to “flying with confidence” for nervous flyers that teach travelers more about how a plane works and other techniques they can use to stay calm on a flight.
For example, British Airways pilot Captain Steve Allright previously told The Independent that many nervous flyers don’t understand how a plane is able to stay in the air, so he has reminded those taking the “flying with confidence” course that an aircraft flying at 30,000 feet can glide for 100 miles, even if all the engines fail.
Allright also noted turbulence can be “caused by nature and is perfectly safe because the aircraft is built to withstand even the most severe turbulence. If you have your seat belt on, you are always perfectly safe,” he insisted.
Another suggestion for nervous flyers is to talk to the cabin crew when boarding the plane. This includes asking questions if you’re unsure about what is happening on the flight.
