Nervous flyers rejoice! There’s a new ranking for the best airline. No matter the reason for your trip, if you feel anxiety while flying, it can make your trip much more difficult. If you’re one of the many people who dread getting on an airplane, this is for you.
The Top Airline
The website bounce.com recently surveyed flyers to find out what makes them uncomfortable when flying. They used that information to rank the top 10 flight providers that make the experience less stressful for passengers. At the top of the list, Singapore Airlines.
The air carrier is based out of Singapore Changi Airport and ranked number one overall with 8.94 out of 10 for being stress-free. The most noted feature that led to this is the seat width in economy class. It’s 18.5 inches, which is the widest of the top 10. In safety and review scoring, they had perfect scores as well. They also noted that they offer meditation playlists while in flight that include things like nature sounds and instrumental music.
The Survey
The survey was given to 2,000 people and asked them what factors made them uncomfortable on a flight. Screaming children and turbulence were tops with 51.6% and 51.5% of respondents rating these as making them uncomfortable. Following these, loud people around you, delays, and smelly toilets rounded out the top 5 issues.
Factors that make people more comfortable include a friendly cabin crew, seat selection, interesting entertainment options, space to stand, and the ability to charge devices.
The survey information was used for rating the airlines, but kept in mind what the airline could actually control. They used the review score of each airline, as well as the seats and available support, for the ranking. Every airline in the list had a perfect safety score.
The Top Five
After Singapore Airlines, the rest of the top 5 are Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Qatar Airways. Of these flight providers, the seat width ranges from 17.9 to 17.6 inches. Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways each had a review score of 4.5 out of 5, while the others all had perfect scores of 5.
Support for Nervous Flyers
While reviewing the data, we noticed that none of the top 5 airlines had programs for nervous flyers. But, each ranked 6 through 9 has these programs. So, it’s worth considering easyJet, Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways for that reason. Most travelers don’t even know these programs exist! We’re in favor of spreading the word. It’s a benefit they should advertise openly.
The easyJet program isn’t free. You can find it here. It’s an online education program with videos to watch. There’s a basic and a premium version that cost $119 and $197, respectively.
Virgin Australia has additional support for nervous flyers. You just have to identify yourself as a nervous flyer at least 8 days before your flight, then they follow up with an email a week before your flight, a text message on your day of travel, and extra care during the flight.
Virgin Atlantic has a “Flying without fear” program, which includes a free eBook, online community, webinars, and more. Check it out on their website.
British Airways has courses in its “Flying with Confidence” program. These are not free courses, and the cost varies. They must also be booked in advance.
Wrapping it Up
This is valuable information when making your choice of airlines to fly with. But they might not be available for your trip. The most important takeaway here is that whoever you fly with may have ways to make your trip easier for you. Check their website and try a search for the airline’s name followed by the words “nervous flyer.” That’s how we uncovered the program details. We wish you pleasant journeys free of stress!
