ISSUES By Sarah Suydam
FEATURED IN THIS ARTICLE:
Easing Flying Fears and Anxiety
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S i nc e t he b e g i n n i n g of 2 0 2 5 , i t h a s n ’t b e e n u n c o m m o n t o hear t ravelers broaching t he d i s c u s s ion of av i at ion s a fet y, a s an apparent increase of close ca lls a nd u n f or t u n a t e c ol l i s ion s a nd fata l accident s have been ma k i ng headlines. A s of t h is a r t icle’s w r it i ng , t he National Transportation Safety Board has doc u mented 19 U.S. av iat ion incidents in which at least 106 people have d ied. A nd wh i le stat ist ica l ly f ly ing is still considered one of the safest modes of transportation, it’s not surprising if t ravelers come to tour operators and advisors look ing for reassu ra nce, especia l ly as approx imately 400 Federal Av iation Administration employees had their jobs eliminated in February. According to Jeff Ment, Managing Pa r t ner of Ment Law Group, wh i le t here’s heightened media at tent ion on av iat ion i ncidents, t h is doesn’t ref le c t a s ig n i f ic a nt de c re a s e i n travel demand or safet y. “T he topic is rea l ly capt u red i n t he med ia r ig ht now, because it ’s
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f ront a nd center a f ter t he ter r ible Wa s h i n g t on, D C d i s a s t er,” Ment said, noting that planes rarely have fatal incidents. “I think if we take a step back and just look at av iat ion over the past year or t wo or five, not one si ng le person cou ld f i nd a nd point to a safer mode of transport.” Ment, who has decades of e x p e r ienc e i n c ou n s e l i n g t r a v e l compa n ies, f rom operators to v endor s a nd t r ade a s s o c i at ion s , ex pla i ned t hat he’s t ha n k f u l ly not seei ng a lot of t r avel c ompa n ies hav ing issues w ith people hesitating to travel v ia commercial airlines. “There are people who have a fear of f lying, but they had that fear before, and t hey st i ll have it now,” Ment shared, noting those folks might do better to seek out alternative modes of transport on their own such as trains a nd motoroac hes. “Group t r avel planners have to grin and bear it and just understand that there are a few people who are more easily arousable when it comes to the susceptibility of the possibility of being on an airplane that has an incident.”
JEFF MENT Managing Partner, Ment Law Group Headshot © Jeff Ment
T he best t h i ng g roup t ravel pl a n ner s c a n do i f one of t hei r t ravelers ex presses concer n? Of fer calm reassurance. “At a ny g i ven poi nt t here a re thousands of planes in the air at the same time,” Ment said. “I think you say to people, ‘Listen, you’ve been f lying your whole life. Have you ever had a problem? No. Well, statistically, you will never have a problem.’” Ment recom mended g roup t ravel planners stand firm in their original plans shou ld one of t heir t ravelers have a cha nge of hea r t out of fea r about their transportation. “I wouldn’t adjust anything. I would simply advise that they do their ow n research,” he said. “There’s nothing safer you could do [travel-w ise] than get on t his a ir pla ne. So I wou ldn’t r ush and come up w it h a lternat ive pla ns or ta l k about ref u nds or do any thing like that. I truly think you can talk people through this.” While it’s absolutely understandable for t ravelers to have a heightened awareness of these aviation crashes a n d i n c i d e n t s — a n d w e s h ou l d