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Published On: Dec 18, 2007 06:04 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 18, 2007 06:04 PM
Short versus long flights - could shorter flights be more stressful after all?
Quite a few clients say they dread
long flights based on their experiences of short flights, but is it possible
that long flights might be less stressful?
I have been seeing quite a few people lately who
have come to see me when they know they are soon to take a long-distance flight.
Here in Australia, that usually means an international flight of many hours
duration, usually in excess of 8
hours.
Few Americans ever take single flights of that duration, and perhaps the same is true of Europeans. Firstly, Americans tend not to travel internationally as much as Europeans and Australians, preferring if travelling for leisure to fly within their own country. We know this because of the statistics of how many Americans hold passports, usually required to travel outside the North American mainland.
Phil Gyford's site has a discussion from 2003 looking at the issue of passport ownership around the world (see link here) and the consensus seems to be the figure for the US is around 20%. For Australia, it is possibly 50%. But be cautious about quoting those figures in any kind of official correspondence!
What it means is that for me, as someone working extensively with fear of flying clients, I need to be prepared for the issues clients bring to the session about international air travel, while my American colleagues would best concern themselves more with domestic travel. Knowing lots about both, and also what happens in other countries with respect to their local airlines, procedures, security, as well as local customs and conditions is a good thing.
The fact that I travel a lot, and often to place coincident with the places my clients visit, is advantageous in the sense that knowing about the destination allows my client to become more excited and enthusiastic about it, especially if my exuberance is catching!
That said, I do get a high proportion of clients who present with fears on short interstate flights of a couple of hours, who believe the entire experience will be multiplied 3 or 4 times over with a flight that is 8 hours long. For a small proportion who have never flown to the US where the minimum flight time is 12 hours with very good tailwinds, that time on board feels an impossible ask. Or as one client said, "Hell off earth!"
But I have been thinking that for my clients who have spent time with me and then taken an international flight successfully, they often return to speak with me of what a great achievement it was, and that what we discussed about long flight turns out to be true: that it isn't the equivalent of 5 short flights strung together, and that indeed, the longer they are on board the less intense is their fear as the flight proceeds. Even turbulence and changes in engine power to climb above or around weather cells mid-flight is handled better than they expected.
Of course, we have usually prepared for this eventuality (it would be rare for a trans-Pacific roundtrip flier not to get any of this on an Australian-US west coast adventure).
The principle at work here is the same one that works for so much behavioural work with anxiety: the longer you stay in the feared situation without an event occurring the more the fear response subsides of its own course. Add in helpful tools such as index cards which contain challenges to false assumptions about flying, breathing techniques and how to cocoon and self-soothe, and you have the chances that a long flight is more helpful over the course of one's fearful flying "career" than many short flights.
The problem with short flights is that things often happen so quickly that there is too little time to really feel the results of utilising the tools learnt in therapy. In the cruise the time one can practise leaving the relative safety of one's seat might only be 30 minutes. Moreover, on short flights, single aisle aircraft such as 737s and A320s are utilised meaning one is discouraged from leaving the seat so the meal service can proceed in the short time available. Even though the flight attendants try to be courteous, they are operating under pressure, especially on airlines offering full service, and so can come off as "professionally brusque". And it can be easy to take that personally, rather than see they have a job to do, and limited time.
The other issue is the return on investment factor I like to think about. Let's say you fly from Sydney to Melbourne, about the same distance from LA to San Francisco. In the old days of prop jets like the Lockheed Electra (I loved the sound of those huge Allison engine with those great square propeller blades) and Vickers Viscount, flight time was 55 mins. Now it's about an hour and 20 mins, even though we are flying jets which climb and descend faster, cruise higher and much more quickly, and are of course more reliable with fewer flight crew. It's just that things are so busy at airports that holding patterns near descent are not uncommon because of the density of air traffic.
So, it might take 45 minutes to drive to the airport, 10 minutes for parking, then being sure you're there at least 30 minutes before the flight, then negotiate all the security, and make your way to the gate having checked in. It's no wonder I advise clients to try and take handheld luggage whenever possible. So you can actually spend more time in pre-flight activity than in the air itself. And the cruise, where you get a chance to feel the aircraft under minimal stress (compared to takeoff and landing) is often quite short by comparison. If you choose to eat, then you might only get 15 minutes to really try relaxing, and usually sleep is out of the question.
On a long flight, you get lots of time to practise many of the tools to overcome fearful of flying. With many flights leaving the US west coast late at night to come to Australia, even usually "wired" fearful flyers will find they sleep. That's often a breakthrough too, since so many think they could never allow themselves to sleep, since they must be "vigilant for anything going wrong."
The other advantage of long-haul flights for fearful fliers is that there are more crew on board (both cabin and flight) and with more "spare time" between predictable inflight events (such as meal services) you are more likely to have a chance to speak at length with one, and learn more about their jobs, and get your questions answered. many are very pleased to have an opportunity to discuss their work, and especially be of help to someone who is fearful of something airline employees are passionate about. Of course, not all crew will always be responsive, so that needs to be factored in and again, not taken personally if the interaction is not satisfactory.
It's for this reasons, I often suggest clients speak with cabin crew on entering the aircraft, as long as it seems a rush to get away is not occurring.
My usual suggestion is to present the greeting cabin crew with your boarding pass, and say something like:
"Hi, I'm in 31A, and this is my first flight since doing some work on my fear of flying. I'm really excited about seeing how I do, but I know it would really help if a crew member might visit me when there's time after the meal service and see how I'm doing."
There is no need to say your name, as they'll note this looking at your boarding pass, and it's the seat number they really need to remember. The cabin manager will usually inform the flight attendant taking care of your area of you, and if he or she doesn't visit you themselves, will usually suggest to another crew member of your presence. Sometimes, they might tear off part of your boarding pass and stick it on their manifest of all passengers on board as a reminder.
On very busy international flights where 400 people are boarding through one door, I would usually suggest not to doing the introduction bit at the jetway, but get to your seat and stowe your luggage first. When things seem to calm down, it might be time to introduce yourself to the crew servicing your cabin area in the same way I mentioned above. (I usually raid the various magazine racks for my personal preferences).
For this reason, I sometimes suggest pre-ordering a special meal (allow 72 hours), which usually gets delivered before the main cabin service, and matches passenger name with seat number. This way the crew get to know you. Of course, in business and first class, food orders are taken very early in the flight or even during the pre-boarding, when the cabin crew walk about with a manifest copy, and ask of your preferences using your name.
Sounds like this: "Mr Posen (checking the seat number I am in against the manifest to make sure I haven't moved), will you be having the steak or the fish entree tonight?"
Pretty civilised, huh?
So the easiest way to approximate this, is to order a special meal where they match up seat number, with passenger name, and meal preference.
In this way, the more you get to interact with your crew, the better your chances of seeing them in action and reinforcing the normality of the flying experience. Things happen, they happen on schedule, and they happen according to procedures. The more you get to see these in action, rather than hiding yourself away staring straight ahead, or buried in a picture book, the more relaxed you'll come to be over time. But the more you practise doing a short flight on board a long flight, the less chance you give yourself of coming to terms with your fears.
Bottom line message: It's OK to think long flights are more troublesome than short flights if you already have a fear of flying. But the reality is that the reverse might in fact be true, and you are best not to turn down the opportunity to do a long flight for this reason alone. The usual truth is that when applying the right tools of understanding and action, a long haul flight can really accelerate your progress and allow you to practise things almost impossible to do on short flights. After all, they have lots in common but sufficient difference to allow you to observe your fears over the long haul and plenty of time to really practise reducing your anxiety.
Of course, there are horses for courses, and those suffering fear of flying with a strong claustrophobia/need to exit symptomatology will need a different preparation than someone whose principle fears revolve around takeoff or landing.
Few Americans ever take single flights of that duration, and perhaps the same is true of Europeans. Firstly, Americans tend not to travel internationally as much as Europeans and Australians, preferring if travelling for leisure to fly within their own country. We know this because of the statistics of how many Americans hold passports, usually required to travel outside the North American mainland.
Phil Gyford's site has a discussion from 2003 looking at the issue of passport ownership around the world (see link here) and the consensus seems to be the figure for the US is around 20%. For Australia, it is possibly 50%. But be cautious about quoting those figures in any kind of official correspondence!
What it means is that for me, as someone working extensively with fear of flying clients, I need to be prepared for the issues clients bring to the session about international air travel, while my American colleagues would best concern themselves more with domestic travel. Knowing lots about both, and also what happens in other countries with respect to their local airlines, procedures, security, as well as local customs and conditions is a good thing.
The fact that I travel a lot, and often to place coincident with the places my clients visit, is advantageous in the sense that knowing about the destination allows my client to become more excited and enthusiastic about it, especially if my exuberance is catching!
That said, I do get a high proportion of clients who present with fears on short interstate flights of a couple of hours, who believe the entire experience will be multiplied 3 or 4 times over with a flight that is 8 hours long. For a small proportion who have never flown to the US where the minimum flight time is 12 hours with very good tailwinds, that time on board feels an impossible ask. Or as one client said, "Hell off earth!"
But I have been thinking that for my clients who have spent time with me and then taken an international flight successfully, they often return to speak with me of what a great achievement it was, and that what we discussed about long flight turns out to be true: that it isn't the equivalent of 5 short flights strung together, and that indeed, the longer they are on board the less intense is their fear as the flight proceeds. Even turbulence and changes in engine power to climb above or around weather cells mid-flight is handled better than they expected.
Of course, we have usually prepared for this eventuality (it would be rare for a trans-Pacific roundtrip flier not to get any of this on an Australian-US west coast adventure).
The principle at work here is the same one that works for so much behavioural work with anxiety: the longer you stay in the feared situation without an event occurring the more the fear response subsides of its own course. Add in helpful tools such as index cards which contain challenges to false assumptions about flying, breathing techniques and how to cocoon and self-soothe, and you have the chances that a long flight is more helpful over the course of one's fearful flying "career" than many short flights.
The problem with short flights is that things often happen so quickly that there is too little time to really feel the results of utilising the tools learnt in therapy. In the cruise the time one can practise leaving the relative safety of one's seat might only be 30 minutes. Moreover, on short flights, single aisle aircraft such as 737s and A320s are utilised meaning one is discouraged from leaving the seat so the meal service can proceed in the short time available. Even though the flight attendants try to be courteous, they are operating under pressure, especially on airlines offering full service, and so can come off as "professionally brusque". And it can be easy to take that personally, rather than see they have a job to do, and limited time.
The other issue is the return on investment factor I like to think about. Let's say you fly from Sydney to Melbourne, about the same distance from LA to San Francisco. In the old days of prop jets like the Lockheed Electra (I loved the sound of those huge Allison engine with those great square propeller blades) and Vickers Viscount, flight time was 55 mins. Now it's about an hour and 20 mins, even though we are flying jets which climb and descend faster, cruise higher and much more quickly, and are of course more reliable with fewer flight crew. It's just that things are so busy at airports that holding patterns near descent are not uncommon because of the density of air traffic.
So, it might take 45 minutes to drive to the airport, 10 minutes for parking, then being sure you're there at least 30 minutes before the flight, then negotiate all the security, and make your way to the gate having checked in. It's no wonder I advise clients to try and take handheld luggage whenever possible. So you can actually spend more time in pre-flight activity than in the air itself. And the cruise, where you get a chance to feel the aircraft under minimal stress (compared to takeoff and landing) is often quite short by comparison. If you choose to eat, then you might only get 15 minutes to really try relaxing, and usually sleep is out of the question.
On a long flight, you get lots of time to practise many of the tools to overcome fearful of flying. With many flights leaving the US west coast late at night to come to Australia, even usually "wired" fearful flyers will find they sleep. That's often a breakthrough too, since so many think they could never allow themselves to sleep, since they must be "vigilant for anything going wrong."
The other advantage of long-haul flights for fearful fliers is that there are more crew on board (both cabin and flight) and with more "spare time" between predictable inflight events (such as meal services) you are more likely to have a chance to speak at length with one, and learn more about their jobs, and get your questions answered. many are very pleased to have an opportunity to discuss their work, and especially be of help to someone who is fearful of something airline employees are passionate about. Of course, not all crew will always be responsive, so that needs to be factored in and again, not taken personally if the interaction is not satisfactory.
It's for this reasons, I often suggest clients speak with cabin crew on entering the aircraft, as long as it seems a rush to get away is not occurring.
My usual suggestion is to present the greeting cabin crew with your boarding pass, and say something like:
"Hi, I'm in 31A, and this is my first flight since doing some work on my fear of flying. I'm really excited about seeing how I do, but I know it would really help if a crew member might visit me when there's time after the meal service and see how I'm doing."
There is no need to say your name, as they'll note this looking at your boarding pass, and it's the seat number they really need to remember. The cabin manager will usually inform the flight attendant taking care of your area of you, and if he or she doesn't visit you themselves, will usually suggest to another crew member of your presence. Sometimes, they might tear off part of your boarding pass and stick it on their manifest of all passengers on board as a reminder.
On very busy international flights where 400 people are boarding through one door, I would usually suggest not to doing the introduction bit at the jetway, but get to your seat and stowe your luggage first. When things seem to calm down, it might be time to introduce yourself to the crew servicing your cabin area in the same way I mentioned above. (I usually raid the various magazine racks for my personal preferences).
For this reason, I sometimes suggest pre-ordering a special meal (allow 72 hours), which usually gets delivered before the main cabin service, and matches passenger name with seat number. This way the crew get to know you. Of course, in business and first class, food orders are taken very early in the flight or even during the pre-boarding, when the cabin crew walk about with a manifest copy, and ask of your preferences using your name.
Sounds like this: "Mr Posen (checking the seat number I am in against the manifest to make sure I haven't moved), will you be having the steak or the fish entree tonight?"
Pretty civilised, huh?
So the easiest way to approximate this, is to order a special meal where they match up seat number, with passenger name, and meal preference.
In this way, the more you get to interact with your crew, the better your chances of seeing them in action and reinforcing the normality of the flying experience. Things happen, they happen on schedule, and they happen according to procedures. The more you get to see these in action, rather than hiding yourself away staring straight ahead, or buried in a picture book, the more relaxed you'll come to be over time. But the more you practise doing a short flight on board a long flight, the less chance you give yourself of coming to terms with your fears.
Bottom line message: It's OK to think long flights are more troublesome than short flights if you already have a fear of flying. But the reality is that the reverse might in fact be true, and you are best not to turn down the opportunity to do a long flight for this reason alone. The usual truth is that when applying the right tools of understanding and action, a long haul flight can really accelerate your progress and allow you to practise things almost impossible to do on short flights. After all, they have lots in common but sufficient difference to allow you to observe your fears over the long haul and plenty of time to really practise reducing your anxiety.
Of course, there are horses for courses, and those suffering fear of flying with a strong claustrophobia/need to exit symptomatology will need a different preparation than someone whose principle fears revolve around takeoff or landing.
Posted: Mon - December 12, 2005 at 12:13 PM |