irrational fear of flying

[Tom]

My mother In law, who traveled a lot, bought a round trip ticket from Albany, GA to her desired destination and back. She played the old lady card at the Albany NY check in desk and got a free change. Mind you, she was a mathematics professor, she should have noticed.

[Mabouya]

Don’t sleep through geography class

Speaking of sleeping and flying, I remember years ago on a flight that was either originating or ending in Miami, Florida (I don't remember the details, and it was probably 30 years ago) I boarded and there already was a guy passed out / sleeping very soundly in the seat next to me. I sat down, and we flew to our first quick stop. Some people get on, a few others get off, and within about 30 minutes we're back in the air, heading to our final destination. Throughout it all the guy's dead to the world. Finally we land at our last stop. Lots of commotion because everyone is getting off the plane. And finally the guy wakes up, groggy and confused. He looks out the window, looks at his watch, and gets a concerned look on his face. You can guess the rest of the story...

[j44ke]

My wife was in business class on a flight and the guy who sat in the next cubicle over immediately ordered a whisky and popped two pills. Before the plane was fully loaded, he was out. Unconscious. Then something happened on the ground outside the plane - a fuel spill if I remember correctly - and they stopped loading and asked everyone already on the plane to leave their baggage but return to the terminal. The unconscious guy required two service guys to come on the plane and hoist him up and drag him into the terminal. After the situation outside the plane was dealt with, everyone reboarded and the flight went on as planned (though late.) However the unconscious guy did not return and his carryon items had been removed as well. Made a big impression on my wife in terms of flight safety. Had there been an actual emergency, that guy would not have been able to exit the plane on his own power.

[ides1056]

See the ending of Stranger than Paradise.

[Chik]

@j44ke, you buried the lede here :p



I mean, the main airport of Austria is VIE anyway, so if there were such a counter, it stands to reason it would be at the much larger airport.

Oh, I’m a bit disappointed, to be completely honest. :)

As for the etymology, confusingly enough, Austria is based on the Latin word for east. Those Romans weren’t too bothered to make south and east sound distinctive, it seems.

[Chik]

My wife was in business class on a flight and the guy who sat in the next cubicle over immediately ordered a whisky and popped two pills. Before the plane was fully loaded, he was out. Unconscious. Then something happened on the ground outside the plane - a fuel spill if I remember correctly - and they stopped loading and asked everyone already on the plane to leave their baggage but return to the terminal. The unconscious guy required two service guys to come on the plane and hoist him up and drag him into the terminal. After the situation outside the plane was dealt with, everyone reboarded and the flight went on as planned (though late.) However the unconscious guy did not return and his carryon items had been removed as well. Made a big impression on my wife in terms of flight safety. Had there been an actual emergency, that guy would not have been able to exit the plane on his own power.

That’s what I do, but the pill (I only take one) isn’t as potent as the ones described.

[bigbill]

^^^If the flight is over 4 hours, I'll take a single Benadryl. At my last job, our corporate headquarters was in Virginia. The closest airport for me is Vegas and Southwest had numerous daily non-stops to BWI which is about five hours heading east, and close to 6 hours on the return flight. One return flight ended up being 7 hours due to jetsteam conditions. A scotch would enhance the effect.

[bigbill]

My Marine aviation candidate son has finished up his schools in Pensacola and is moving to Corpus Christi. His last week in Pcola, he was dunked in cockpit to demonstrate he can escape an upside down aircraft in the water, jumped into a pool (10m board) with a deployed parachute, demonstrated "drown proofing" in his flight gear, and ejection seat training. He should be flying the T6 by early February.

[echappist]

That’s what I do, but the pill (I only take one) isn’t as potent as the ones described.

On my last flight to Europe, I popped a 5-mg alprazolem right after we were seated and somehow was waken up an hour later and was never able to fall asleep again. Made for an awful arrival, but at least I recovered on by the second day. 10-mg knocks me out quite good and I usually have great difficulty waking up afterwards.

Those eastward flights, especially the ones departing early and arrive at say 6 AM local time, are quite dreadful. Made worse when they don't shut the lights until 4-5 hours in (cough, Delta).

[Chik]

On my last flight to Europe, I popped a 5-mg alprazolem right after we were seated and somehow was waken up an hour later and was never able to fall asleep again. Made for an awful arrival, but at least I recovered on by the second day. 10-mg knocks me out quite good and I usually have great difficulty waking up afterwards.

Those eastward flights, especially the ones departing early and arrive at say 6 AM local time, are quite dreadful. Made worse when they don't shut the lights until 4-5 hours in (cough, Delta).

Yep, eastbound flights, particularly when flying from the east coast in the evening and landing over here early morning. Just awful without having slept most of the way.

[echappist]

Yep, eastbound flights, particularly when flying from the east coast in the evening and landing over here early morning. Just awful without having slept most of the way.

Which was what happened on that aforementioned Delta flight (DTW to AMS, followed by a second leg to BER). Zero sleep at all on the flight, and I caught 1 hour at AMS.

So by the time we got to Berlin, the entire afternoon was slept away. We got up at 5 PM but could have easily slept til 8 PM. The next day was bad as well, entire morning just gone.

I'm getting old enough that even early train rides would drain me (slept away the afternoons of each of the two days we were in Belgium, all b/c I picked the 6 AM Eurostar train).

A lot of the bad decisions made were made in view of cheaper fare, but I've fully recognized that the money saved usually won't be worth it.

[Saab2000]

When I fly to Europe now (just for fun because I don’t fly there commercially) I generally try to power through the day, have dinner and then sleep the full night. That seems to work. I’m groggy on day 2 in the morning but after that I’m adjusted. But I’m fortunate to have a routine when I get there and a known place I’m going to, so there is familiarity, which helps a lot. Ground transportation is by train, where it’s actually hard to stay awake.

I rarely sleep on the airplane though I often try and have a couple quiet hours, listening to white noise and occasionally dozing. I’m so tired for my first full night that I am actually out for 8-10+ hours and am good to go after that.

[gregl]

During the late 1990s through early 2000s, my work took me to western Europe at least twice a month. I eventually got a good routine that helped the transition. The week before a trip, I tried to get up earlier each day until I was out of bed by 4 AM on travel day. When I got on the plane for the transatlantic leg, I would forgo the big meal for a quick snack before going right to sleep. If all went according to plan, I would get about 6 hours sleep before arrival. As saab noted, I would power through day 1 and force myself to stay awake until at least 9 PM local time. The next day, I was fully on the local schedule, ready to go. Note that all this was predicated on flying business class or better. All bets were off if flying coach…

Greg

[Chik]

When I fly to Europe now (just for fun because I don’t fly there commercially) I generally try to power through the day, have dinner and then sleep the full night. That seems to work. I’m groggy on day 2 in the morning but after that I’m adjusted. But I’m fortunate to have a routine when I get there and a known place I’m going to, so there is familiarity, which helps a lot. Ground transportation is by train, where it’s actually hard to stay awake.

I rarely sleep on the airplane though I often try and have a couple quiet hours, listening to white noise and occasionally dozing. I’m so tired for my first full night that I am actually out for 8-10+ hours and am good to go after that.

I can do that when Day 1 involves physical activity, even if that's just walking around, but find it too much of an effort when it involves seated meetings or being at a desk.

[72gmc]

I can do that when Day 1 involves physical activity, even if that's just walking around, but find it too much of an effort when it involves seated meetings or being at a desk.

I agree. When I have to go straight to the office from the airport, I’ll take a walk and talk approach to my meetings when I can.

[Tom]

I've found that the older I get the harder it is to do overnights. For work I fairly regularly pulled all nighters. In my twenties I could run a marathon the next day (I did that once... once.) As time went on I was good with a one or two hour nap after drinking a beer on the front porch. In my forties or fifties I started needing to nap all day Sunday (our access to the machines was midnight to 6am Sundays). In my late fifties it began to hurt. When I crossed 61 I said screw this, I'm retiring and did. I'm back at work for a short term engagemnt and we did an implementation on the test machines Saturday and I was asleep by midnight. Sunday afternoon I was wrecked.

[bigbill]

In 2007, I was flying to the US from Rome at least once a month. I was military so I flew coach but frequently paid out of pocket for economy plus or the equivalent based on the airline. For the most part it wasn't necessary for Lufthansa or KLM, their aircraft had more legroom. I tried to leave Rome before noon to get to the east coast in the afternoon. My briefings would be in DC so I still had to connect to Reagan. I usually stayed at the Marriott Navy Yard so I could walk to the office. If I could get to the hotel by eight pm, I was okay to present a brief the next morning. The problems arose when the DC guys wanted to get together that evening for dinner and drinks (they called it team building). I had to ask random strangers to wake me for the Navy Yard station on the Metro.

The next morning I had to present updates to my Sardinian project (closing a NATO Base). I had to do it in person due to the classification which by the end of the project, was no longer classified, but they still wanted me there in person.

[echappist]

During the late 1990s through early 2000s, my work took me to western Europe at least twice a month. I eventually got a good routine that helped the transition. The week before a trip, I tried to get up earlier each day until I was out of bed by 4 AM on travel day. When I got on the plane for the transatlantic leg, I would forgo the big meal for a quick snack before going right to sleep. If all went according to plan, I would get about 6 hours sleep before arrival. As saab noted, I would power through day 1 and force myself to stay awake until at least 9 PM local time. The next day, I was fully on the local schedule, ready to go. Note that all this was predicated on flying business class or better. All bets were off if flying coach…

Greg

That really takes the sting out of eastward trans-oceanic flights.

When I took a trip that spanned 13 time zones in 2018, it took me 8 days (perhaps more) to fully recover. I didn't plan it well: arrive at IAD at 5:30 PM, walk a mile or more in the airport, wait for a 10:30 PM flight to PHL, and got home at 12:30. Kicker was that I foolishly scheduled a MRI for the next morning at 8:30 AM, which meant I really couldn't rest. I tried to get back to work the following Tuesday, but was too knackered to get anything done. It was so awful that it took me a good six days to be able to putter for 45 minutes on my bike. I had subpar trans-Pacific flights before, and this one didn't appear to have been much worse on the flight, but it ended up being so. I think I actually got a few hours of sleep on the trans-Pacific leg of the flight.

I pretty much though that was the sign I was officially entering middle age.

Then on our trip this last May, we were able to upgrade our seats to lie-flats for $750/person. Ended up getting 8 hours of sleep on the 12-hr flight from TPE to SFO. The subsequent legs (SFO to ORD and ORD to MKE) were a lot worse though (E+ seats on a really loud 757-300 followed by a short hop on a cramped CRJ-200), but I was able to get a decent night of sleep and get back to fully functional on the second/third full day back. Only bummer was that I kept on waking at 4 AM for a few days, and it took me until the fifth day to realize I should have taken melatonin my first night back.

Westward flights are a lot easier to manage, whether coming back from Europe or travelling to Asia.

[j44ke]

For short flights like to Europe, it is just a matter of drinking a lot of water, eating just enough not to be hungry and then keeping my mind off how much longer. I frequently put headphones on without plugging them in because it kind of deadens all the sound. Easier to read. I watch movies without the sound but with the headphones on. The movies are often better than way. I drink enough water I have to get up relatively frequently, which gets me stretching too. I try to get flights that arrive at noon. I go to wherever I am staying, eat a big lunch and have a couple cups of coffee. Then go walk around. Then have a smallish or lightish dinner. In bed by 9PM. Leave the curtains up or open. Morning light is a good alarm clock, except in Paris where there is no light. There are lights but not light. But there are wood pigeons. They wake up at 5AM. Clockwork.

[bcm119]

Just back from SFO-JFK and back on Alaska. The new LIRR connection to Grand Central makes JFK a viable choice for me now to connect to Metro North. It beats the hour plus ride on the A train from Howard Beach. I was hoping I'd like this option more than EWR, but JFK still seems like a terrible airport to me, at least terminal 7. It took almost an hour to get through a TSA line that snaked back and forth in a hot windowless room with fans blowing on us, like some sort of industrial farm. Even worse than EWR. Arriving home at SFO is always such a relaxing experience compared with the mayhem of NYC airports.