Flying Soon? Here’s How to Calm Last-Minute Flight Anxiety
Spring break is here, and if you’re flying in the next few days, you might be feeling the pre-flight anxiety kicking in.
Maybe your mind is racing with thoughts about turbulence, delays, feeling trapped, or panicking mid-flight. Maybe you’re struggling to sleep the night before your flight or feeling like you just won’t be able to relax until you land.
I get it. The days leading up to a flight can be just as stressful as flying itself.
But here’s the thing—anticipation anxiety distorts reality. The fear you feel before flying often has nothing to do with the flight itself and everything to do with the worst-case scenarios playing out in your mind.
If that’s happening to you, you’re not alone. And the good news? You don’t have to spend the next few days stuck in an anxious spiral.
Let’s talk about why flight anxiety feels so intense before you even step foot on the plane—and what you can do to shift it.
Stop Trying to ‘Convince’ Yourself to Feel Calm
A lot of anxious flyers spend the days before a flight trying to force themselves to feel calm. They tell themselves, "If I can just think positively, I won’t feel anxious," or they look for reassurance that everything will be okay.
But that rarely works.
In fact, the harder you try to force calm, the stronger anxiety tends to get. When your brain is stuck on high alert, the goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety—it’s to stop feeding it.
This is something I help my students understand inside my course, Calm Before Takeoff. Most people think they need to make their anxiety disappear before flying, but the real shift comes when you stop seeing it as something to fight.
Why the Days Before a Flight Feel Worse Than the Flight Itself
The hardest part of flight anxiety often isn’t the flight itself—it’s the waiting.
When you have days (or weeks) to sit with anxious thoughts, your brain starts playing out every possible worst-case scenario. You imagine turbulence, delays, feeling trapped, losing control. And because the brain reacts to imagined fear the same way it reacts to real danger, the stress feels overwhelming.
That’s why so many anxious flyers experience trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, or physical symptoms leading up to their trip. It’s not because something bad is about to happen—it’s because your nervous system is on overdrive, trying to prepare for something that hasn’t even happened yet.
This is a huge part of what we work on inside Calm Before Takeoff. Anticipation anxiety makes your fear feel bigger than it really is, but there are ways to shift out of that spiral so it doesn’t take over.
Reframing the Unknown: What If You Don’t Need Certainty?
One of the hardest parts of flying is not knowing what to expect.
Will my flight be delayed?
Will we hit turbulence?
Will I feel trapped on the plane?
Your brain craves certainty, so it fixates on these questions—trying to prepare for every possible scenario.
But flying is unpredictable. No amount of planning will guarantee a perfectly smooth experience. That’s why the real skill isn’t finding ways to control the unknown—it’s learning how to handle uncertainty without spiraling.
Inside Calm Before Takeoff, I teach a simple mental shift that helps my students stop clinging to certainty. Because the truth is, you don’t need to predict the future to manage your anxiety. You just need to know how to respond to it in a way that keeps you feeling in control.
What If You Panic on the Plane?
A huge fear for anxious flyers is: What if I panic mid-flight and can’t escape?
But here’s something to remember—panic attacks don’t last forever. In fact, no feeling does.
Most people make the mistake of trying to “stop” panic when it shows up. They resist it, brace against it, or tell themselves they can’t handle it. But that only makes it worse.
One of the biggest mindset shifts I teach inside Calm Before Takeoff is that panic isn’t something you need to fight. The moment you stop treating it like an emergency, it starts to lose its power.
The Night Before: Get Out of Your Head & Into Your Body
If your anxiety is spiking the night before your flight, focus on shifting your energy away from overthinking and into something grounding.
Going for a short walk, using relaxation techniques, or even distracting yourself with a simple task can help. The key is to keep your brain from getting stuck in an anxious loop.
This is something I cover in detail inside my course—I break down simple self-care strategies to help you feel more grounded and in control before you even step foot in the airport.
Want More Support Before Takeoff?
If you’re struggling with pre-flight anxiety, my mini course, Calm Before Takeoff: Crush Anticipation Anxiety Before Your Next Flight, was designed for you.
It’s an audio-based mini course you can listen to while packing or driving to the airport, with practical strategies to help you feel more in control in the days leading up to your flight.
Inside, you’ll learn:
Why anticipation anxiety feels so overwhelming (and how to stop spiraling)
A science-backed mindset shift that makes flying feel less stressful
What to do if anxiety spikes before or during your flight
Click here to access Calm Before Takeoff and take the stress out of your upcoming trip.
If You’re Flying Soon, Remember….You’ve Got This.
If you’re getting on a plane in the next few days, remember this:
You don’t have to love flying to handle it. Your anxiety doesn’t predict reality. You’re capable of more than your fear tells you.
Take it one step at a time. You’ve got this.