Starting to get flight anxiety

[TinkAgainU]

Maybe the wrong place to ask this as it’s a little off topic…. Has anyone changed their flight decisions with their lap children in light of the Alaska airlines blow out? I have two trips to Disney planned with my toddler as a lap child, but now am feeling like I should buy him his own seat. The issue is our little 3 hour flight is now up to almost $800 for our June trip, so it will be a huge cost, and I’m also not sure if he will ever quit screaming if we strap him into a car seat…. Curious for others thoughts.

I have no comments as far as safety. But my personal feeling is if you'll be stressed not having him strapped in - pay for the additional seat - your peace of mind as a parent is Everything, and he'll feel your stress. It's rather random, but perhaps worth Calling the Airline, asking for a manager, and discussing to see if they might work with you on the pricing? It will be obvious to them you've already booked and are asking about the extra seat for stress reasons. I'd not have high hopes, but if you don't ask ...

 

[Peaseblossom36]

Maybe the wrong place to ask this as it’s a little off topic…. Has anyone changed their flight decisions with their lap children in light of the Alaska airlines blow out? I have two trips to Disney planned with my toddler as a lap child, but now am feeling like I should buy him his own seat. The issue is our little 3 hour flight is now up to almost $800 for our June trip, so it will be a huge cost, and I’m also not sure if he will ever quit screaming if we strap him into a car seat…. Curious for others thoughts.

Have they flown before? We booked a seat and brought a car seat for our toddler when we flew, it was also a 3 hour flight. Since she was used to a car seat, she was fine and actually fell asleep immediately after take off and woke up right before we landed on the way down (early flight). The flight back she slept for half of it and then played with stickers the rest of the flight. But she generally does okay in the car seat in the car.

If its a southwest flight maybe look into companion pass? I'm not sure how exactly it works but have seen people mention using it for their children.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Airline captain here.
Please always remember we will not do anything unsafe. We are also people with families we want to get home to. We have skin in the game.

IMO, that’s why the public will never stand for completely automated airliners. In the back of the passengers mind, they know we don’t want to do anything truly dangerous.

 

[EACarlson]

Maybe the wrong place to ask this as it’s a little off topic…. Has anyone changed their flight decisions with their lap children in light of the Alaska airlines blow out? I have two trips to Disney planned with my toddler as a lap child, but now am feeling like I should buy him his own seat. The issue is our little 3 hour flight is now up to almost $800 for our June trip, so it will be a huge cost, and I’m also not sure if he will ever quit screaming if we strap him into a car seat…. Curious for others thoughts.

I would never fly with my kids without having them in a seat. If you don't want to use the car seat, you could look into a Cares Harness. My kids were much more comfortable and much easier to contain in their car seat. Both my kids were squirmy, no chance I wanted to hang on to them for three hours straight.

 

[TinkB278]

Have they flown before? We booked a seat and brought a car seat for our toddler when we flew, it was also a 3 hour flight. Since she was used to a car seat, she was fine and actually fell asleep immediately after take off and woke up right before we landed on the way down (early flight). The flight back she slept for half of it and then played with stickers the rest of the flight. But she generally does okay in the car seat in the car.

If its a southwest flight maybe look into companion pass? I'm not sure how exactly it works but have seen people mention using it for their children.

Yep he has flown three times before all as a lap child. He does not do well in his car seat, cries almost the entire time… which is partly why I’m nervous to buy his own seat. I fear he won’t be in it long before we take him out so other passengers don’t have to listen to the screaming.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Yep he has flown three times before all as a lap child. He does not do well in his car seat, cries almost the entire time… which is partly why I’m nervous to buy his own seat. I fear he won’t be in it long before we take him out so other passengers don’t have to listen to the screaming.

One thing to remember is how long seat belt sign is off and weather near your flight. Seat belt sign can be on for most of flight. He can be in it longer than you plan

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I had some flight anxiety after a very turbulent flight around 20 years ago. It wasn't enough to stop me from flying but I did get some Ativan which took the edge off. I also read a book written by SWA pilot, Ray Stark, called This is Your Captain Speaking. It explained all the safety precautions & crew training that the average passenger wouldn't ever know. It also discussed required airplane maintenance and how the media adds a spin to airline stories. (Nothing new, remember this was 20 years ago.)

The one example that stayed with me is that commercial jet planes get their tires replaced something like every 3 days. (I forget the exact number.) So let's say a plane slides on some ice, the news will say something like, "We now learned that a mechanic was just working on the plane's tires yesterday." as if they're trying to connect the 2 occurances that likely are unrelated. It's so annoying.

Anyway, I had several white knuckle rides and as I continued to have good flight experiences, the fear lessened. I only took the Ativan for 2 vacations.

Good luck to all of you.

https://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Ca...=books&sprefix=ray+stark,stripbooks,79&sr=1-1