The World's Most Popular Jet Plane Has Been Grounded!

The Worldwide Grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX

Boeing's 737 MAX is the latest version of the most popular commercial aircraft in history. It has recently been grounded, or prohibited from operating, anywhere in the world. This follows two separate fatal crashes within five months.

Should the plane have been grounded?

In my opinion, absolutely. The 737 MAX planes have a new system, intended for safety, that is capable of pushing the nose of the plane downwards. When the system malfunctions, it can repeatedly push the nose of the plane down towards the ground, even though the pilots are fighting against it with all of their effort. The system has the capability of changing the pitch of the entire tail fin assembly,  and not just the control surfaces, or elevators.

Why didn't Boeing do something after the first crash?

It seems as though most of the blame should fall on Boeing's shoulders, not only because of the fault-prone system, but also because they did not do enough to fix the problem after the first fatal crash. I myself feel that the system shouldn't even be on the airplane, because Boeing seems to be using it as a replacement for additional crew training on the new version of the aircraft. They should have required emergency training for all flight crews, on how to disable the system, and whatever else to do when the system malfunctions.

When should I buy an airline ticket?

In order to get the best price

on an airline ticket, it helps to know when to buy. Airline ticket prices are constantly changing. A general rule of thumb is to buy tickets at least 3 weeks before the flight. The most expensive time to buy would be the day of the flight, which is when business travelers often book. International flights usually should be booked as soon as possible, well in advance. Prices for flights within the US are usually best about 21 to 42 days before the flight, or about 3 to 6 weeks in advance. Prices just aren't as good outside of that time period. Discounts also often come into effect on Monday nights, so a good time to check prices would be late Monday night, or early Tuesday morning. Thursdays are the days to avoid purchasing a ticket. These are the days when markups happen, and many airlines routinely add $10 to the ticket prices. Finally, flights that take place during the week tend to cost a little less on average than weekend flights.

Happy travels!

Where does our fear of flying come from?

I have been seated next to

Nervous flyers before. One woman in particular, seated next to the window, who offered interesting conversation for practically the entire flight. It wasn't until we were about to land that she clammed up completely. She had told me that she was nervous about flying, but seemed perfectly fine, and I didn't want to throw some statistical numbers at her, or tell her something that she was tired of hearing, like the old quote that flying is, by far, the safest way to travel.

Instead,

I decided to try to understand where this fear, for so many of us, comes from.

It would seem that one reason, which is backed by research, is that we are not in complete control of our safety. If something goes wrong, we have to trust in the flight crew to do what is right. Our safety is in the hands of these people that we do not even know.

Another reason, just according to my dead reckoning, has to do with the fact that we are flying through the air. Air is not something that seems very solid. You can't grab onto it, or sit on it. But somehow, we are able to float through it, all the way to our destination.

The last reason that I wanted to mention is risk perception. Fatal aircraft events make the news, and they stick in our heads. They can leave a lasting impression, no matter how rarely they occur.

British Airways

Offers "Flying with Confidence" classes, that are designed to reduce passenger anxiety, by teaching them how planes stay up in the air. They claim to have a 98 percent success rate, and to have helped "over 50,000 people" to conquer their fear of flying. While these numbers may sound a bit optimistic, I think that a good knowledge of the technology and safety in the aircraft can help to make the passengers more comfortable with their flying experience.

Even though

I consider myself to be reasonably comfortable while traveling by air, it's a lot more comfortable for me to just drive my own car. This is why it doesn't make perfect sense that statistically, I am 8,615 percent more likely to be killed while driving my car, than while flying on a jet plane.