Anxiety when flying might not seem so unreasonable these days, but a British Airways program seeks to reassure the lightly nervous and the abjectly te

‘The Plane Is Fine’: An Airline Course Looks to Overcome Fear in the Skies

submited by

Style Pass

2024-04-02 12:30:04

Anxiety when flying might not seem so unreasonable these days, but a British Airways program seeks to reassure the lightly nervous and the abjectly terrified alike.

No sooner had British Airways Flight 9240 roared into the air over Heathrow Airport than the cabin air was pierced by a sharp, scary noise, like an alarm or a siren. The power surged and then seemed to falter, and the plane became worryingly quiet. (Too quiet?)

What was it? Images of catastrophic scenarios — birds, engine failure, parts falling off, total systemic breakdown — pinballed through the passengers’ imaginations as the plane seemed to struggle to find its equilibrium. Unease gripped the cabin. But then a disembodied voice wafted soothingly over the public-address system. “Everything’s normal,” the voice said. “The plane is fine.”

This emotional roller coaster of a flight, a 35-minute loop in the air that started and finished at Heathrow, was the culmination of the airline’s “Flying With Confidence” course, aimed at people who are afraid to fly — the lightly nervous as well as the abjectly terrified.