{"id":846184,"date":"2026-03-24T02:25:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T02:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/846184\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T02:25:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T02:25:17","slug":"the-reasons-air-travel-can-be-stressful-has-multiplied-in-recent-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/846184\/","title":{"rendered":"The reasons air travel can be stressful has multiplied in recent months"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW ORLEANS (AP) \u2014 The list of reasons why air travel can be stressful has grown as long as the security lines at some U.S. airports.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back<\/a> winter storms<\/a>. The Iran war<\/a>. Government<\/a>shutdowns.<\/a> A fatal runway collision<\/a> between a jet and a fire truck. All have disrupted airline travel in recent months. Add in the usual hassles like seat selection and baggage fees, overbooked flights and takeoff delays, and even frequent flyers may be thinking twice about booking trips that require boarding a commercial airplane.<\/p>\n

Crowded airport checkpoints due to a funding standoff on Capitol Hill, and President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents to help with airport security, were top of mind for many passengers on Monday. <\/p>\n

A National Transportation Safety Board air-traffic control specialist trying to get to New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport for the investigation into the runway collision was stuck in a TSA line in Houston for three hours, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said Monday. They called officials there to \u201cbeg\u201d to get her through, she said.<\/p>\n

John Hoffman was back at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans for the second day in a row after missing his flight to Spokane, Washington, a day earlier due to 4-hour-long wait times to get through security. The lines moved more quickly with federal immigration officers supplementing Transportation Security Administration<\/a> staff, but Hoffman questioned whether it was worth the expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lines are shorter today,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cBut in my mind, we can fund TSA a lot less expensive than we can send ICE here, put them up in hotels and all the things that go along with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Reagan Washington National Airport, college student JD Foster only waited for about 10 minutes in the security line Monday morning but still ended up missing an important appointment and losing a $500 deposit after his flight to Boston was repeatedly delayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just kept saying \u2018it\u2019ll be a little bit longer\u2019 every 15 minutes until they admitted it was a part malfunctioning and they switched planes,\u201d Foster said in an email. \u201cI would have had enough time to get an earlier flight if they would have been honest about the delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite such problems, the head of a trade association for the airline industry says travelers should be \u201cgetting excited\u201d for summer vacation trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issues we\u2019re dealing with today are truly temporary,\u201d Chris Sununu, former governor of New Hampshire and president and CEO of Airlines for America, said in a phone interview. \u201cPeople should know that solutions are being presented, and I think we think there are some solid long-term fixes and even some short-term fixes here, so people should feel confident buying in.\u201d<\/p>\n

But air travel is inherently anxiety provoking for many people, and the recent constellation of stressors only adds to that, said Dr. Michael Ziffra, a psychiatrist and associate professor at Northwestern University\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine. But while nothing may completely eliminate the anxiety and aggravation, he recommends several ways to mitigate it.<\/p>\n

First, go into it with a sense of adventure, or at least acceptance, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna get delays, you\u2019re gonna get complications, you might get long lines,\u201d Ziffra said. \u201cSo just try to somehow be at peace with the fact that air travel can be inherently unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparation such as confirming flight information and wait times can help, but it\u2019s counterproductive to try to prepare for every possible scenario, he said. Instead, travelers should arm themselves with enjoyable snacks, movies and music while avoiding things like alcohol, medication or online rants that could end up worsening their mood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing people can do is really avoid anything that might be exacerbating the negative feelings,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople should take care of themselves and do their best to enjoy whatever travel they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dr. Zaid Fadul, a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and physician, it\u2019s all about staying grounded mentally before taking off physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell people, all\u2019s fair in love and travel. Delays are normal, it\u2019s a part of life, and you have to find ways to really reground yourself,\u201d said Fadul, CEO of Bespoke Concierge MD. <\/p>\n

That means focusing on what you can control, like your breathing, he said. He recommends deep breathing exercises<\/a>, or something as simple as focusing on the sensation of pressing your feet onto the floor. He practiced another favorite technique recently, tempering his frustration with the long security lines by expressing gratitude to a TSA agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe lit up,\u201d he said. \u201cJust seeing her response made me feel a little better, and it made it less about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fadul said he challenges others to consider what they can do to make travel \u201ca little less annoying.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThose little acts of kindness can really land,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press reporter Russ Bynam in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW ORLEANS (AP) \u2014 The list of reasons why air travel can be stressful has grown as long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[7306,24492,2665,103753,51,241836,32,12264,4179,105,774,83163,241837,241834,388,218,241835,46168,4920,241838,20662,7143,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-846184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-aerospace-and-defense-industry","9":"tag-airport-security","10":"tag-anxiety","11":"tag-aviation-safety","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-chris-sununu","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-fires","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-iran","19":"tag-iran-war","20":"tag-jennifer-homendy","21":"tag-john-hoffman","22":"tag-lifestyle","23":"tag-mental-health","24":"tag-national-transportation-safety-board","25":"tag-new-orleans","26":"tag-stress","27":"tag-transportation-security-administration","28":"tag-travel-and-tourism","29":"tag-u-s-news","30":"tag-uk","31":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116281784610840615","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}