Honestly they don't bother me, and hard plastic Airpods drive me crazy too. (The Airpods pro with the rubber tips are better.)

The foam tips used on the Clarity Aloft are much softer. Soften than foam earplugs, even. They really don't bother me at all, and I love being able to just leave one ear out during pushback. Much more graceful than the crooked-headset maneuver.

They are a consumable, as they eventually degrade a bit and start letting a bit more noise in. That's when I change them; they usually last a couple of months for me. You can buy them from Clarity, which I did for a while, but I found these on Amazon which fit the same screw threads: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VNB0UC/ Same foam, same threads, same everything, but $16 for six pairs instead of $35+shipping.