OPINION: Anxiety takes flight

A major facet in my life is my anxiety. I have to confront it almost every day of my life. Like many with this issue, I take medication, which helps me get through life. However, I still have to psych myself up before every phone call or social interaction. I plan out my days by the hour, whether I’m at work or on vacation.

As someone who loves to travel, this can be both good and bad. With my planning, I am often able to get the most out of any location, researching all there is to do and fitting it in my schedule. In the end, the hardest part of travel for me is the actual traveling part, specifically if it involves flying.

Don’t get me wrong, I think airplanes are incredible. I interned at an aviation company for two summers, during which I learned a lot about the history of aviation and the actual mechanics of it. That learning, however, did not get rid of my fear of flying.

Logically, I know the odds of dying in a car crash are 100 times more likely than in a plane crash (literally, it’s 1% to .01%). I know what turbulence is and how it works, even that there’s very little danger when turbulence happens. Despite all of this, I still hate flying.

I have no flights planned for this year, which I feel thankful for due to recent happenings. We used to hear about maybe one airplane mishap a year. Many weren’t super intense, but a traumatic event nonetheless. This year has been different.

In late January over the Potomac River, the deadly mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines Bombardier resulted in the death of all involved, 67 people. One would think such a terrible occurrence would lead to more caution and care in the government’s actions towards the FAA and NTSB. Unfortunately, one would be thinking incorrectly.

In the last couple of weeks, hundreds of FAA employees have been fired by the current administration. While Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said none of the staff let go were air traffic controllers or critical safety personnel, this doesn’t mean safety isn’t impacted. Those let go worked with FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance. Someone still needs to do this important work.

As anyone in the working world knows, less people means more work for those still standing. The workload is usually split up and added to other employees’ plates. While annoying in some fields, it becomes a safety issue with aviation.

Air traffic is already an overworked field. There is a shortage of about 2,000 air traffic controllers in the U.S., or a quarter of the needed amount. Now they’re being asked to do more, or at least have lost some of their support? Unless something changes soon, air accidents are going to continue to happen.

Since the D.C. crash, there have been three other major aviation disasters in the U.S., including Monday’s event. This plane departed from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and was supposed to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Somehow, the Delta flight flipped while landing. Of the 80 people on board, 18 were taken to the hospital with injuries.

Airplanes are still the safest way to travel in the U.S. statistically, but the current government is certainly trying to change that. Will I still fly this year if I need to? Absolutely. My anxiety will just continue in the same upward trajectory as the airplanes do.