(Photo by Anton Porsche: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-man-inside-concrete-building-1002175/)

This post won’t be very long, as I'll be traveling to Palm Springs this weekend for another conference, this time focused on travel writing. After that, I’ll also go to Huntington Beach in Orange County for a short trip, so expect content from those destinations in the coming weeks.

In my work as a travel advisor, I’m getting more questions about air travel safety. That’s primarily because of the traffic control problems at Newark Airport, which are causing massive delays. Their communication systems have gone silent for nearly two minutes regularly, which has then caused flight delays of several hours or more. 

While I’d love to tell those people it’s just a freak occurrence at one airport, it’s also happening at others. It’s hitting close to home with reported incidents at Denver International Airport.  Fiscal and personnel cutbacks at the federal level certainly aren’t helping this situation, and they're not putting travelers’ anxiety to rest. But here’s why I’ll still fly this summer and beyond and things you might want to think about if you’re planning the same.

Here's a screenshot of Google Flights from May 29th - most fares are quite low now

Air travel is still safe

According to an MIT study, accidents occur every 13.7 million passenger flights, making flying one of the safest modes of transportation. Driving – the other most common travel - is still riskier, even with more incidents happening in the air. 

It’s the most efficient way to travel

This is a no-brainer. You get to where you need to go faster if you fly – try to avoid connections, which could slow your progress.  Also, book your flights as early in the day as you can, as later ones are often delayed.

Pricing is excellent now

Due to some potential travelers reconsidering air travel, certain flights and routes are being priced significantly below their normal summer rates. However, it’s not always the case – look for deals and specials, especially on Google Flights and other sites like Kayak.

Beware the alarmist media

Television, radio, and social media can all contribute to feelings of dread and perpetuate them. That is no different with these air travel problems. Even with real problems happening at the federal government level, the media tends to conflate these issues.