Afraid of flying due to recent plane crashes? This class at MSP can help.
The data is indisputable, but rational thinking isn't always a cure for a nervous flier like Beth Maurer.
"Every time I would walk on a plane or even think of walking on a plane, it felt like the whole space was closing in on me and created intense panic," Maurer told WCCO. "You hear stats that almost a quarter of people are afraid of flying, but nobody talks about it on the plane and you feel totally alone in that situation, gripping the seats."
Indeed, just as the data shows the safety and reliability of air travel in America, the data also shows how prevalent the anxiety about flying is — roughly 25 million people.
A new survey found that 64% of U.S. adults say they think plane travel is "very safe" or "somewhat safe," but that's down slightly from last year, when 71% said so, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 20% now say they consider air transportation very or somewhat unsafe, up from 12% in 2024.
The poll was conducted shortly after the deadly Jan. 30 collision between an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., but before the Feb. 17 incident where a Delta flight from Minneapolis flipped upside down while landing in Toronto.
"That flight flipping, that landing incident, made me skeptical about how difficult it is to land a plane safely," Maurer said. "That flight was really triggering because I was on a flight, maybe before that, to D.C., and I thought that could've been us in that situation."
Maurer added she didn't always feel this way; she loved flying as a kid, but a turbulent experience on her honeymoon traumatized her.
"My kids were born after that so I'd say we did a lot of road trips," she quipped to WCCO. "That fear of the unknown was really terrifying for me."
Our interview with Maurer, though, took place right before Maurer would travel by airplane to the West Coast for work.
So how was she able to get back on board flying? She went back to school — and a classroom that's actually inside Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Jenny Matthews, a therapist from Eden Prairie, helped Maurer and others in a special course called "Navigating Flight Anxiety at MSP." Matthews' latest class, held in March, was sold out.
"I think one of the big misconceptions is there is a fear of flying," Matthews explained to WCCO. "There are fears of flying. There's this fear of the anxiety that I get so anxious and panicky that I kind of lose control on the plane. A really big one is a fear of being in an enclosed space for a long time and feeling trapped. There's a fear of getting sick, being OCD — and they're not necessarily afraid of the plane itself, but being around people that might exhibit the things they're afraid of."
Matthews' husband, Justin, is a former Air Force flight engineer, and also takes part in leading the course. The classroom itself is part of a former Delta jet and includes everything from the seats to the overhead bins.
According to Matthews, the course is mainly aimed at helping people manage their anxiety, not suppress it. Her next course will take place on May 17, and Matthews is again expecting a full roster.
