Tips for Anxious Flyers—From a Pilot Who Gets It

Tips for Anxious Flyers—From a Pilot Who Gets It

Let’s start with this:

It’s 100% normal to feel uneasy about flying.

You’re not alone, and you’re not irrational.

I’ve flown thousands of flights, and I still have friends, family, and even frequent flyers who text me nervous questions before takeoff. If that’s you—this post is for you.

Below are a few tips I’ve shared over the years that have helped people understand why flying feels scary, and more importantly, why it’s actually one of the safest things you’ll ever do.

1. Know What’s Normal (Because Most of It Is)

That bump?

That noise?

That sensation of “falling” right after takeoff?

Totally normal.

Airplanes are mechanical, noisy, and reactive to the air around them. Every sound or movement has a reason—and they don’t of mean the plane is in trouble.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• The thump after takeoff? That’s the landing gear retracting.
• The whirring sound mid-climb? Engine power adjusting for altitude.
• The “drop” feeling? It’s often just a change in pitch or speed—not an actual drop.

Understanding what’s supposed to happen makes it all feel a little less ominous.

Think of pressing the gas pedal in your car for instance; if you held the gas pedal at the same RPM going up a hill as you did when you reached the top of the hill and flat ground, your car would accelerate/go faster than it did up the hill. The same thing happens in airplanes, but we don’t want to accelerate so we must pull power back after climbing (usually not long after takeoff at an altitude on the way to our final cruise altitude). This keeps the plane from speeding up, and when we get cleared to climb again, the power increases again. Those power changes result in noise changes from the engines.

2. Turbulence Feels Scarier Than It Is

Turbulence is one of the most common triggers for anxious flyers. Here’s the truth:

• Turbulence is uncomfortable, not unsafe.
• Planes are built to handle it—like a boat riding over waves.
• We (pilots) are trained to navigate and manage it with ease.

In fact, we slow down during turbulence just like you would in a car on a bumpy road. And if you hear us ask the flight attendants to sit down, that’s just us being extra cautious—not a sign of danger.

3. Watch the Crew—Not Your Imagination

If you’re unsure about something mid-flight, look at the flight attendants.

They’re trained professionals, and if they’re calmly serving snacks or chatting in the galley, you can bet everything is running exactly as it should.

Your imagination might jump to worst-case scenarios—but our training, checklists, and calm procedures are built to handle everything with precision and composure.

4. Distract, Breathe, Repeat

Sometimes the fear is less about the facts and more about how your body reacts. That’s okay.

Here are a few practical things you can do in the moment:

• Bring distractions. Download a comfort show, playlist, or podcast.
• Use the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Breathe in for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. It works.
• Tell a crew member. Seriously—flight attendants want to help. They can check on you, offer reassurance, or just keep an eye out.

5. Trust the Training

Behind every commercial flight are:

• Pilots with thousands of hours of training and extensive training in simulators where they run emergency scenarios
• Aircraft are maintained under some of the most stringent safety standards in the world, and pilots go over the logbook before every flight to ensure checks were completed, and items that needed to be fixed were properly addressed and signed-off
• A coordinated effort by pilots, dispatchers, maintenance, flight attendants, and air traffic control, keep things moving safely

We don’t take chances. We follow protocols. We double-check everything. We are trained for emergencies. We are trained to have increased situational awareness. Through well rehearsed practice every does their part to ensure a safe flight. We can question an instruction from ATC, ask for deviations for weather, have redundancies in every aircraft system if something fails, and are always thinking through possible scenarios to stay alert and prepared.

Not because we’re afraid—but because aviation is built on redundancy, responsibility, and respect for the system.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to love flying.

But with the right information, a few calming tools, and a peek behind the scenes, you might just feel more in control and less afraid.

Flying is an incredible feat of engineering and teamwork.

And we’re here to help you understand it—one fact, one post, one flight at a time.

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