Fear of Flying (Part 3): 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Worry About Recent Flight Headlines
In part 3 of the “Fear of Flying” series, I thought it important to address all of the recent headlines in the news around flight-related incidents. Most fears or phobias have a certain level of irrationality, meaning that we realize our anxiety is disproportionate to the actual risk involved. Take someone’s fear of going to the dentist or doctor for routine care, for example. The body might respond to a very safe and common thing to do as if it were truly threatening. It’s not much different than the fear of flying in that, like going to the dentist, flying is a very routine, safe, and common thing to do. Now enter news headlines about plane crashes, cases of turbulence increasing in frequency and severity, air traffic controller shortages, and flights having to make emergency landings shortly after takeoff. We read these things and understandably start to question whether or not this fear is irrational after all. Anxiety already likes to overestimate probabilities, and seeing a constant barrage of flight-related complications in your news feed might start to create new justified-feeling anxiety or make you feel like your fear is actually not so crazy after all.
Despite what appears to be a dramatic uptick in news pieces on airline safety being compromised, there are still really good reasons you shouldn’t worry about recent flight headlines. The reality is that the data tells a very different story—one that still overwhelmingly supports traveling by airplane as one of the safest forms of travel. Ultimately, that story (and those facts) will have to be accepted over media sensation if you want to start moving toward the things that are important to you and away from the anxiety that likes to shrink your world and your experiences.
Here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t worry about recent flight headlines
- Media likes to amplify what’s “hot” and emotional.
News outlets compete for exposure. They like trends and unfortunately gravitate toward those that capture our attention and make us afraid. This means that many more types of airline-related incidents are likely to be covered after a major incident like a crash than would have been covered previously. Outlets jump on what’s already captured our attention, and they then capitalize. They further drive a catastrophic narrative, which can cause the impression that flying has become far more dangerous than it actually is. Headline clusters don’t necessarily point to increased risk. - Incidents are still extremely rare compared to the number of total flights.
There are approximately 100,000 commercial flights each day. That’s a staggering 36 million-plus flights each year. Even if you were to see multiple stories in a month that speak to diversions, mechanical issues, or turbulence, we are talking about an incredibly small fraction of flights being affected—let alone having incidents worth making the news for any reason. - Most reported “safety incidents” are precautionary and do not involve any injury or death.
Many of the scary-sounding incidents we hear about (like diversions or flights having to turn around due to some kind of mechanical issue) involve intervention that errs on the side of caution—and that never represented any kind of threat to the people on board. They, in fact, speak to the systems in place that prioritize safety and that are functioning the way they should. - Note the safety stats.
As I noted in my comprehensive fear of flying workbook, Willing to Fly, and as cited from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, flying is still one of the safest things we can do. It’s over 100 times safer than driving. The fatality rate for U.S. airline travel is 0.01 per 100 million passenger miles, while for cars it’s 1.11. Let that sink in.
I also pull the following excerpt from the workbook:
“Tens of thousands of commercial pilots and flight attendants have flown entire careers—often logging 10,000 to 20,000+ hours in the air—without a single serious incident. For the vast majority of flight crews, flying is not just routine; it’s uneventful. They take off, land, and go home safely, over and over again, for 30 to 40 years. If you're looking for real-world proof of how safe commercial flying is, start with the people who do it for a living, multiple times a week, for decades.” - There’s no meaningful data to suggest that flying is any less safe now than it was in years prior.
Not only is there no clear and reliable evidence to suggest that flying is any less safe now than it was before 2025, but the overall long-term trend shows that flying continues to get statistically safer each year. This holds true even when accounting for the occasional high-profile incident. The actual accident and fatality rates remain near historic lows, supported by rigorous oversight, advances in technology, and industry-wide safety standards.
In Conclusion
What I’ve illustrated here in terms of flight safety and media sensation, is to suggest that in order to move forward with tackling the fear of flying, facts (and not feelings) need to lead our risk assessments. We choose the kind of life we want to live. That life can be small and confined to our comfort zone or it can be full and with all of the normal risks we might reasonably assume anytime we cross a street, drive a car, or ride a bike. Want to do something even safer than those things? Book a flight.
Although fears around safety have been amplified lately, most people dealing with flight anxiety are less afraid of the mechanics of the plane and more afraid of the lack of control that comes along with flying, the inability to escape, and the way their body and mind might respond when they’re in a situation where anxiety or panic kick in. They fear the feelings of fear.
Check out Part 1 (intro to the series) and Part 2 which speaks more about what the fear of flying is really all about.
For more in-depth work on this issue, consider checking out my comprehensive fear of flying workbook called “Willing to Fly”. It’s 47 pages and It includes practical education on flight anxiety and anxiety itself, proven evidence-based interventions, worksheets, and tools to help you learn how to fly with more confidence and calm. You’ll learn what you may have been unknowingly doing to increase anxiety – and how to teach your system that it is safe even when it wants to sound the “false alarm”.
If you’re looking to work on this in therapy for more focused and individualized support, feel to reach out for a complimentary 15-20 minute consultation with me (Joel Schmidt). Email counseling@floatoncounseling.com, call 813-515-9602, or use the contact us page to view my schedule and to request a consultation time. We’ll meet briefly to assess for fit and to answer any questions you might have.