Afraid to fly?

[Bill Greenwood]

There is a poll on MSN, "Do you feel safe flying?" Now this is obviously only about airline flying, even though it is not specified as such. For most people who live in the boring word, "flying" really means riding in the back of an airliner, not actually flying as we know it.

Anyway the poll was interesting, and the results show many people are still afraid to fly.
48% no fear, flying is safe.
24% fear of flying
13% don't fly at all, (reason not given, probably mostly economic but fear may be part of it.)

So just less than half are positive about flying safety. I wonder is sales and marketing departments take this into account when trying to sell seats, either to passengers or future student pilots.

If you add the 24 and 13 , you get almost as many or 37% that are negative on flying. Those results surprise me, I would have guessed 80/20 positive.
This is despite airline flying having an incredible safety record in recent years with no fatalities on major U S lines.

So fear is not just based on facts, it is an emotional reaction and may have much to do without understanding how and why a plane flies or of not wanting a situation where you have no control at all and must trust strangers.

Of course when you drive, even though you may control your car, you really are partly in the risk of other drivers when you are in traffic like a freeway.
I don't like to drive, I find it tiring and stressful compared to flying unless it is in the country away from other cars.
And though driving may have less fear for many people, the facts show it has more risk than airline riding.

[Pearson]

Bill,

I agree, it is surprising that so many people are afraid to fly. I used to fly for several different airlines. I often would commute, riding in the back of an airliner in uniform. It was amazing some of the questions people would ask me. Most people think that if the engines quit, the airplane will drop out of the sky like a brick. Or they are afraid a little gust of wind is going to tear the wings off. The general public needs to be educated about aircraft construction and the overall safety of flying in general. The media needs to be spanked for sensationalizing the slightest little problem of evey airline flight.

AS far as the sales and marketing departments, I don't think they take any of this into account. Their mentality seems to be, "take your gruel and shut up or step aside, NEXT".