A 12 months after a lethal collision within the sky above Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, a brand new TPG/YouGov survey finds that despite the fact that a majority of U.S. air vacationers assume airline journey is usually secure, a whopping 74% admit to being not very, considerably or very nervous when flying. Inside that breakdown, 46% of flyers report being considerably or very nervous when flying.
That is TPG’s second consecutive 12 months commissioning this survey. We started the polling in mild of a sequence of incidents that had some questioning airline security, together with that deadly midair collision final January, a Delta Air Strains regional flight that flipped over on landing in Toronto final February and a door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight the 12 months earlier than. These and different current incidents understandably have some flyers nervous.
We needed to know if People nonetheless really feel that flying is safe.
Concern of flying
For the second 12 months in a row, we requested respondents how secure they assume flying is true now. Seventy-four p.c of People assume airline journey proper now could be both considerably (36%) or very (37%) secure, whereas solely 11% stated flying was not secure in any respect or not very secure.
That is an enormous enchancment over last year, when solely about one in 4 (27%) respondents stated journey is “very secure” and a whopping 28% stated they didn’t imagine airline journey is secure in any respect. Final 12 months’s ballot was performed by The Harris Ballot — a unique pollster — for TPG.
We additionally requested how nervous air vacationers had been, if in any respect, when flying. Twenty-one p.c stated they don’t seem to be in any respect nervous when flying, however nerves abound in any other case. Twenty-seven p.c stated they weren’t very nervous, 30% stated they had been considerably nervous and 16% stated they had been very nervous.
Affect on journey
Whereas a worry of flying would not are likely to dissuade most folk from touring altogether, it does change conduct.
Thirty-eight p.c of flyers with a worry of flying, whether or not slight or vital, stated that this worry has led them to alter their journey plans in a roundabout way. Roughly 9% of these flyers stated they’ve delayed their plans, whereas one other 9% have stated they’ve canceled their plans. One other 20% of these respondents have discovered different types of transportation.
Amongst U.S. adults who’re nervous flyers, 45% use distractions like music, motion pictures, video games and books to fight their worry of flying. 9 p.c of these use prescription treatment (like Xanax), whereas one other 10% take over-the-counter drugs, 11% eat alcohol and 12% meditate.
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We additionally requested respondents concerning the impression of current airline security incidents. Thirty-nine p.c of flyers reported no change of their degree of nervousness in mild of current airline security incidents. Nonetheless, 46% stated they’re considerably or far more nervous.
Nonetheless, that added nervousness did not have a serious impression on planning; solely 3% of these conscious of previous security incidents prior to now few years stated they’re canceling journey plans, and 5% stated they’re delaying them.
One other 13% stated they’re taking direct flights in order that they have much less time within the air, and 13% stated they’re selecting an alternate type of transportation.
Backside line
A lot of People are nonetheless nervous about flying, in accordance with YouGov in a brand new survey commissioned by TPG. And despite the fact that a while has handed for the reason that airline chaos of early 2025, 45% of flyers nonetheless stated they’re extra nervous about flying after airline security incidents prior to now few years.
Associated studying:
The Factors Man commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the survey. All figures, until in any other case acknowledged, are from YouGov Plc. The overall pattern dimension was 2,210 U.S. adults, amongst whom 1,952 are flyers. Fieldwork was undertaken between Feb. 17 and 19, 2026. The survey was carried out on-line and meets rigorous high quality requirements. It gathered a nonprobability-based pattern and employed demographic quotas and weights to raised align the survey pattern with the broader U.S. inhabitants.
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