Originally Posted by
jungle
Being from a mostly military and cargo background, I was shocked to see how terrified many people are about flying. After flying some of the public around on corporate gigs, it was a revelation to find out that many folks are scared to death to board an aircraft, but they do it anyway.
Please try to understand that it is a terror of the unknown, and yes it is dangerous. They just haven't had as much exposure to it as two cars (loaded with who knows what) passing each other on a two lane road at a 140 MPH closing speed.
Try to understand their fears and deal with them as gently as possible. And yes they can be very funny afterward. The fear is very real for them.
As others have pointed out, you never know, perhaps the designer of your aircraft is on board.
I appreciate this comment. I'm not an airline pilot, but I definitely realize that you deal with rude, ignorant, and annoying passengers on a daily basis. However, some people truly live in terror of flying on airplanes. My own father is more scared of flying than anyone I know. He has gotten a bit better over the last several years--I'm pretty sure seeing me take flying lessons and being able to remain safe in a 152 has helped him be able to fly on airliners with a little bit less stress. With that said, he ALWAYS takes note about pilots/FA's who were either rude or nice to him when he has asked questions such as "Are we going to be okay?!" and "Is this turbulence dangerous?" Again, I realize that you get asked dumb questions daily, but I guarantee that fearful fliers take note of which airlines have employees that attempt to calm their fears.