I probably don't need to say this, but air travel is statistically so much safer than driving. Things can go wrong, but the "I'm never flying Boeing" crowd is giving into unreasonable fear. It's...
I probably don't need to say this, but air travel is statistically so much safer than driving. Things can go wrong, but the "I'm never flying Boeing" crowd is giving into unreasonable fear.
It's kind of like the news coverage on Tesla accidents and self-driving taxi (Waymo, etc) incidents. They gather attention because they're keywords that draw attention (in form of clicks and ad revenue, usually).
I've taken a moderate number of flights, don't have a fear of flying, but aerophobia is not fully irrational from my perspective. "Statistically safer" is comforting but can be misleading....
I've taken a moderate number of flights, don't have a fear of flying, but aerophobia is not fully irrational from my perspective.
"Statistically safer" is comforting but can be misleading. Injuries or deaths per mile traveled? Planes probably have fewer than cars.
Injuries or deaths per single instance of travel? Seems possible for cars to have fewer, given the sheer number of car trips total.
Most or all transportation regulations are written in blood, for cars and planes alike. Air travel, generally, is safer than it's ever been before. But if a mechanical or weather issue arises, there isn't the same opportunity to pull over and sort it out.
There are different risks and challenges with air travel, most of them not transparent to passengers. And when it goes bad, it can go really bad. That's fertile soil for both rational and irrational fears to germinate.
Planes absolutely, categorically, without question, are much, much safer than cars in terms of injuries (and deaths, which is relevant since non-fatal injuries are much rarer in plane crashes than...
probably
Planes absolutely, categorically, without question, are much, much safer than cars in terms of injuries (and deaths, which is relevant since non-fatal injuries are much rarer in plane crashes than car crashes) both per passenger mile and per passenger trip. (In 2023, there were zero deaths in US commercial aviation. In 2022, there was one. You can't even compute a meaningful multiple for how much safer air travel is!) If you're going from one airport to another and your only criterion is personal safety, the decision is, statistically speaking, made for you.
Interestingly, your point does come up in a different context: planes are safer than trains per passenger mile, but less safe per passenger trip. (This is kind of in the noise; both are extremely safe by both metrics.)
(These facts aren't particularly evident from the stats BTS publishes, unfortunately. Writing up a well-cited summary of safety stats per transportation mode is something I'd like to do, or have someone else do so I can reference, but alas, that's far down the list of ways I want to spend my limited spare time.)
I wasn't thinking about specific years with "probably," and said that now it's the most safe it's ever been. I could possibly cherry pick a particular year or range when plane injuries and...
I wasn't thinking about specific years with "probably," and said that now it's the most safe it's ever been. I could possibly cherry pick a particular year or range when plane injuries and fatalities were greater than automobile, but that wasn't really my point.
Jeju 2216 was a demonstration of lost context, and a mistake that wasn't a problem for a year until it suddenly was. And why it seems pretty logical to have a healthy fear and respect for the risks of air travel.
Edit: you even snuck in an important point. It's much less likely to be harmed while flying, but in the unlikely event that you find yourself in a crashing plane you're more likely to die. So making up numbers, only .001% of something happening vs 1%, but you're 90% likely to die from it. It's not as comforting as it sounds.
I'm also curious if those stats include helicopter tours, commercial non-passenger flights, etc?
The stats are generally for commercial aviation (Part 121 ops, aka the major airlines). Separate stats exist for general aviation, and they are worse (about equivalent to riding a motorcycle).
The stats are generally for commercial aviation (Part 121 ops, aka the major airlines). Separate stats exist for general aviation, and they are worse (about equivalent to riding a motorcycle).
Oof. That’s far too high for my liking, and confirms my dislike of both motorcycling and private aircraft flights, especially light planes. Almost anytime I read about either, somehow it circles...
Separate stats exist for general aviation, and they are worse (about equivalent to riding a motorcycle).
Oof. That’s far too high for my liking, and confirms my dislike of both motorcycling and private aircraft flights, especially light planes. Almost anytime I read about either, somehow it circles back to being unsafe…
Riding a motorcycle is obviously inherently more risky than being in a car if an accident happens, but it really isn’t too bad statistically on the whole if you control for: being sober riding in...
Riding a motorcycle is obviously inherently more risky than being in a car if an accident happens, but it really isn’t too bad statistically on the whole if you control for:
being sober
riding in control (not speeding, riding appropriately for weather/light conditions, etc.)
wearing proper protective gear
proper maintenance of tires, brakes, etc.
Of course things can still happen that are outside your control but, if you check all of those boxes, you drastically reduce the odds of an accident and increase the chances that you survive without serious injuries in the event of one.
Fair enough. That said, I’m wimpish enough that I’d probably avoid riding a motorcycle in rain at all, so I’m obviously not the target demographic here. Also, I’d wager your first two points...
Fair enough. That said, I’m wimpish enough that I’d probably avoid riding a motorcycle in rain at all, so I’m obviously not the target demographic here.
Also, I’d wager your first two points account for the majority of car accidents as well… Being a sensible driver probably does the heavy lifting when it comes to avoiding injury or worse.
Yeah, but as this article notes, emotions don't really care about statistics and logic. And right now, I also can't necessarily call that fear unreasonable. At least, within the United States. I...
Yeah, but as this article notes, emotions don't really care about statistics and logic. And right now, I also can't necessarily call that fear unreasonable. At least, within the United States.
I don't have a fear of flying, but I am wary of flying in the immediate future given the recent incidents in the US. Two near misses between civilian and military aircraft just this month, a shortage in air traffic controllers, the Newark ATC losing radar and the ability to communicate with planes for about 30 seconds, and ongoing revelations and increasing awareness of how Boeing's quality standards have been far below par... And then with some articles circulating after the Air India crash (edit to add for clarity: investigators concluded that crash was most likely human action rather than defects, but before that announcement, many articles revived scrutiny of Boeing's production processes) claiming that John Barnett said it would take "ten or twelve years" for the assembly line defects to start causing plane crashes (can't find a direct quote from him, but we're now in the window where that would be a problem with the 787 Dreamliners)...
And, of course, the ever-present risk of political BS crippling the FAA even further...
Yeah, I'm not too keen on flying in the immediate future. Right now, there just seems to be too many factors adding up or coming to a head. I know the odds are low statiscally, and that part of this is just the media latching onto these topics and thus making it seem bigger than it is. But at the same time, everything in the US feels so charged and on the verge of... something. I don't think I'd feel as nervous flying in, say, Europe or Canada.
Maybe I'll feel safer in a few months when/if stuff settles down, but for the immediate future I'm just feeling wary about everything.
Please don't imply the 787 has issues. You're entitled to feel however you feel about air travel, but all of the known facts and acts by regulatory agencies point to the Air India crash being an...
Please don't imply the 787 has issues. You're entitled to feel however you feel about air travel, but all of the known facts and acts by regulatory agencies point to the Air India crash being an act of suicide and mass murder.
Oof, I didn't mean to imply that the issues caused the Air India crash, but I can see how it can be read that way. I'd cut out a link and some text from my post to make it less rambly, which...
Oof, I didn't mean to imply that the issues caused the Air India crash, but I can see how it can be read that way. I'd cut out a link and some text from my post to make it less rambly, which included acknowledging that the Air India incident is now considered to be due to human action rather than a design flaw. And... Yeah, without that context it definitely sounds like I did blame Boeing for that crash.
The articles I'm referring to were from the initial speculation period before the investigation finished, but also used it to renew awareness about the accusations of Boeing's lacking QA standards. This is the specific one I'd read, and seems to be the source other articles used for the paraphrased "ten or twelve years" line from John Barnett. What stuck with me from it are the specific details about the production, but I cut that link from my original comment since it mostly discusses the defects in relation to speculation they caused that crash. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the original source or any articles referencing that supposed quote from Barnett that didn't relate to the Air India crash. But that line, regardless of whether it's real or not, is one of the general sources of unease for myself and likely many people who've seen articles reference it, so I didn't want to remove it entirely.
On that note, I still stand by my wariness about modern Boeing planes since the past few years have revealed just how much the company has stopped valuing quality and safety. The Wikipedia article on the 737 MAX's certification just... Does not give me much faith in Boeing's commitment to ensuring safety for any of their newer planes, or much faith in the FAA's seal of approval for other Boeing planes. It's a company that cares about greed and money more than ensuring safety, in an industry where safety is particularly vital.
Yeah the state of Boeing is really sad. As an American, and a flier, I certainly agree that there is no reason to have faith in them and they need to overhaul every part of management. I actually...
Yeah the state of Boeing is really sad. As an American, and a flier, I certainly agree that there is no reason to have faith in them and they need to overhaul every part of management. I actually wrote that other comment when I was in the air, but in an Airbus 321neo, and wow it just felt like a better product. So not only does Boeing lack on the reliability and trustworthiness fronts, but they also fall behind in comfort.
Maybe logic and statistics are useless for someone with a pathological fear of airplanes. But they can be highly persuasive for those who are not phobic. I feel extremely safe and relaxed during...
Yeah, but as this article notes, emotions don't really care about statistics and logic.
Maybe logic and statistics are useless for someone with a pathological fear of airplanes. But they can be highly persuasive for those who are not phobic. I feel extremely safe and relaxed during flights regardless of weather conditions, and that is in large part due to logic and statistics.
Recommendation: If you haven't yet watched and want to fully enjoy The Rehearsal, skip the paragraph about The Rehearsal. The payoff is so much better as a surprise.
Recommendation: If you haven't yet watched and want to fully enjoy The Rehearsal, skip the paragraph about The Rehearsal. The payoff is so much better as a surprise.
Fear of flying - Wikipedia For folks who aren't aware. (Personally I don't have a fear of flying, just a distaste for the process and discomfort of flying)
I don't have much choice about flying for work, and the experience has definitely gotten worse (I've had two cross-country trips in the past two weeks). Longer times on the tarmac, more weather...
I don't have much choice about flying for work, and the experience has definitely gotten worse (I've had two cross-country trips in the past two weeks). Longer times on the tarmac, more weather delays, more crowded flights, less clean planes, more irritable security and gate personnel.
When you add up all the little stresses of travel, the seemingly constant barrage of newsworthy plane crashes globally, and people's general anxiety levels, it's not surprising that more people are manifesting this as fear of flying.
I have had to talk an aerophobic seatmate through a bumpy flight and landing. He'd never flown before and was in a barely controlled panic from the ups and downs of storm turbulence, shaking and soaking with sweat, hyperventilating... I felt so badly for him, because there was literally no escape from the situation other than waiting it out. I don't know if there's a recommended strategy for coaching someone through this. I was just a hand to hold and a voice narrating what was happening. "You're going to feel a bump - that's the landing gear being released" kind of talk.
I'm generally pretty rational and logical, my Bachelors is in Philosophy, I spent my 20's researching deeply into logical fallacies, logical reasoning and generally just a thrust towards sheer...
I'm generally pretty rational and logical, my Bachelors is in Philosophy, I spent my 20's researching deeply into logical fallacies, logical reasoning and generally just a thrust towards sheer rationality.
But planes break my brain. I'm well aware of the statistics and usually have no issues leading up to the flight, but as soon as I'm on the plane, my lizard brain takes over and anxiety takes hold. I had a flight to Chicago last month that had to fly around and through some storms, which ended-up being turbulent for about 2 and a half hours of a three hour flight, which ended-up being just a non-stop panic attack for me.
The way back, I got solidly drunk, which helped a bit, but still didn't totally relieve it.
But I also think that my flight anxiety started around the time I weened myself of my meds for my general anxiety and I also think it has something to do with lack of control for me. I think I would feel 100% better if I was flying the plane and experiencing everything.
I don't have any particular fear of flying (trans-oceanic does freak me out a bit). But I've been told that most doctors will issue a script for a couple ambien if you have an up coming flight...
I don't have any particular fear of flying (trans-oceanic does freak me out a bit). But I've been told that most doctors will issue a script for a couple ambien if you have an up coming flight that you are anxious about. I've never felt the need but it's preferable to liquid courage :).
I have some Lorazepam that I ought to be taking for flights, but I use it so infrequently (I've had the same bottle for like 15 years now) that I just forget it. Also, as someone with flying...
I have some Lorazepam that I ought to be taking for flights, but I use it so infrequently (I've had the same bottle for like 15 years now) that I just forget it.
Also, as someone with flying anxiety, flying from the US to the UK last year didn't really bother me much for whatever reason. It was very smooth and very calm, on my flight home I was able to just read my book the entire time and listen to music, without feeling much anxiety.
So sorry to hear you're among the afflicted! I wonder if it's also a motion sickness thing. When you're controlling a vehicle over bumpy roads, you've got visual cues to help compensate for the...
So sorry to hear you're among the afflicted! I wonder if it's also a motion sickness thing. When you're controlling a vehicle over bumpy roads, you've got visual cues to help compensate for the motion. [I can't read in a moving car without getting ill because I don't have that view.]
Air turbulence is completely invisible to the plane passengers, so all of that uncompensated inner ear activity seems like it would be pretty fear-inducing to me. Interestingly, most anti-anxiety medications can also be used to treat nausea and motion sickness. Nausea alone is such an aversive stimulus that people will refuse a food for life that they associate with illness, and those who've had chemo can also wind up with permanent medical anxiety.
Just spitballing a hypothesis, but maybe it can help in future?
Comment box Scope: information, opinion Tone: wry at first, neutral mostly, later kind of pondering Opinion: yes Sarcasm/humor: there is 1 joke here I normally care about Facts and Logic, but if...
Comment box
Scope: information, opinion
Tone: wry at first, neutral mostly, later kind of pondering
Opinion: yes
Sarcasm/humor: there is 1 joke here
I normally care about Facts and Logic, but if irrational aerophobia convinces people to fly less and take trains more, that has substantial environmental benefits. As vehicle electrification grows, even a mode shift to cars is an unequivocal enviro improvement. The number of lives saved due to fewer CO2 emissions due to this “irrational” decision is consequential. (Directly from asthma and other respiratory conditions and indirectly from the numerous forms of climate change happening.)
The net social mental health benefit to avoiding premature deaths is high!
The counterargument is that a mode shift to cars results in more traffic fatalities (~1.2m baseline global). This is true, but still outweighed by avoided climate deaths from not emitting so much CO2 (~8m baseline global), plus incalculable indirect deaths. (Any mode shift would be a fraction of each, but a roughly proportional one.)
I guess the response to this depends on how narrowly or broadly you think about mental health. Even if aerophobia is silly, and even if it’s indicative of a larger pattern of people being unable to reconcile numbers with emotions, in this case it happens to be something of a benefit. Personally, I won’t fight it.
I probably don't need to say this, but air travel is statistically so much safer than driving. Things can go wrong, but the "I'm never flying Boeing" crowd is giving into unreasonable fear.
It's kind of like the news coverage on Tesla accidents and self-driving taxi (Waymo, etc) incidents. They gather attention because they're keywords that draw attention (in form of clicks and ad revenue, usually).
I've taken a moderate number of flights, don't have a fear of flying, but aerophobia is not fully irrational from my perspective.
"Statistically safer" is comforting but can be misleading. Injuries or deaths per mile traveled? Planes probably have fewer than cars.
Injuries or deaths per single instance of travel? Seems possible for cars to have fewer, given the sheer number of car trips total.
Most or all transportation regulations are written in blood, for cars and planes alike. Air travel, generally, is safer than it's ever been before. But if a mechanical or weather issue arises, there isn't the same opportunity to pull over and sort it out.
There are different risks and challenges with air travel, most of them not transparent to passengers. And when it goes bad, it can go really bad. That's fertile soil for both rational and irrational fears to germinate.
Planes absolutely, categorically, without question, are much, much safer than cars in terms of injuries (and deaths, which is relevant since non-fatal injuries are much rarer in plane crashes than car crashes) both per passenger mile and per passenger trip. (In 2023, there were zero deaths in US commercial aviation. In 2022, there was one. You can't even compute a meaningful multiple for how much safer air travel is!) If you're going from one airport to another and your only criterion is personal safety, the decision is, statistically speaking, made for you.
Interestingly, your point does come up in a different context: planes are safer than trains per passenger mile, but less safe per passenger trip. (This is kind of in the noise; both are extremely safe by both metrics.)
(These facts aren't particularly evident from the stats BTS publishes, unfortunately. Writing up a well-cited summary of safety stats per transportation mode is something I'd like to do, or have someone else do so I can reference, but alas, that's far down the list of ways I want to spend my limited spare time.)
I wasn't thinking about specific years with "probably," and said that now it's the most safe it's ever been. I could possibly cherry pick a particular year or range when plane injuries and fatalities were greater than automobile, but that wasn't really my point.
Jeju 2216 was a demonstration of lost context, and a mistake that wasn't a problem for a year until it suddenly was. And why it seems pretty logical to have a healthy fear and respect for the risks of air travel.
Edit: you even snuck in an important point. It's much less likely to be harmed while flying, but in the unlikely event that you find yourself in a crashing plane you're more likely to die. So making up numbers, only .001% of something happening vs 1%, but you're 90% likely to die from it. It's not as comforting as it sounds.
I'm also curious if those stats include helicopter tours, commercial non-passenger flights, etc?
The stats are generally for commercial aviation (Part 121 ops, aka the major airlines). Separate stats exist for general aviation, and they are worse (about equivalent to riding a motorcycle).
Oof. That’s far too high for my liking, and confirms my dislike of both motorcycling and private aircraft flights, especially light planes. Almost anytime I read about either, somehow it circles back to being unsafe…
Riding a motorcycle is obviously inherently more risky than being in a car if an accident happens, but it really isn’t too bad statistically on the whole if you control for:
Of course things can still happen that are outside your control but, if you check all of those boxes, you drastically reduce the odds of an accident and increase the chances that you survive without serious injuries in the event of one.
Fair enough. That said, I’m wimpish enough that I’d probably avoid riding a motorcycle in rain at all, so I’m obviously not the target demographic here.
Also, I’d wager your first two points account for the majority of car accidents as well… Being a sensible driver probably does the heavy lifting when it comes to avoiding injury or worse.
Yeah, but as this article notes, emotions don't really care about statistics and logic. And right now, I also can't necessarily call that fear unreasonable. At least, within the United States.
I don't have a fear of flying, but I am wary of flying in the immediate future given the recent incidents in the US. Two near misses between civilian and military aircraft just this month, a shortage in air traffic controllers, the Newark ATC losing radar and the ability to communicate with planes for about 30 seconds, and ongoing revelations and increasing awareness of how Boeing's quality standards have been far below par... And then with some articles circulating after the Air India crash (edit to add for clarity: investigators concluded that crash was most likely human action rather than defects, but before that announcement, many articles revived scrutiny of Boeing's production processes) claiming that John Barnett said it would take "ten or twelve years" for the assembly line defects to start causing plane crashes (can't find a direct quote from him, but we're now in the window where that would be a problem with the 787 Dreamliners)...
And, of course, the ever-present risk of political BS crippling the FAA even further...
Yeah, I'm not too keen on flying in the immediate future. Right now, there just seems to be too many factors adding up or coming to a head. I know the odds are low statiscally, and that part of this is just the media latching onto these topics and thus making it seem bigger than it is. But at the same time, everything in the US feels so charged and on the verge of... something. I don't think I'd feel as nervous flying in, say, Europe or Canada.
Maybe I'll feel safer in a few months when/if stuff settles down, but for the immediate future I'm just feeling wary about everything.
Please don't imply the 787 has issues. You're entitled to feel however you feel about air travel, but all of the known facts and acts by regulatory agencies point to the Air India crash being an act of suicide and mass murder.
Oof, I didn't mean to imply that the issues caused the Air India crash, but I can see how it can be read that way. I'd cut out a link and some text from my post to make it less rambly, which included acknowledging that the Air India incident is now considered to be due to human action rather than a design flaw. And... Yeah, without that context it definitely sounds like I did blame Boeing for that crash.
The articles I'm referring to were from the initial speculation period before the investigation finished, but also used it to renew awareness about the accusations of Boeing's lacking QA standards. This is the specific one I'd read, and seems to be the source other articles used for the paraphrased "ten or twelve years" line from John Barnett. What stuck with me from it are the specific details about the production, but I cut that link from my original comment since it mostly discusses the defects in relation to speculation they caused that crash. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the original source or any articles referencing that supposed quote from Barnett that didn't relate to the Air India crash. But that line, regardless of whether it's real or not, is one of the general sources of unease for myself and likely many people who've seen articles reference it, so I didn't want to remove it entirely.
On that note, I still stand by my wariness about modern Boeing planes since the past few years have revealed just how much the company has stopped valuing quality and safety. The Wikipedia article on the 737 MAX's certification just... Does not give me much faith in Boeing's commitment to ensuring safety for any of their newer planes, or much faith in the FAA's seal of approval for other Boeing planes. It's a company that cares about greed and money more than ensuring safety, in an industry where safety is particularly vital.
Yeah the state of Boeing is really sad. As an American, and a flier, I certainly agree that there is no reason to have faith in them and they need to overhaul every part of management. I actually wrote that other comment when I was in the air, but in an Airbus 321neo, and wow it just felt like a better product. So not only does Boeing lack on the reliability and trustworthiness fronts, but they also fall behind in comfort.
Maybe logic and statistics are useless for someone with a pathological fear of airplanes. But they can be highly persuasive for those who are not phobic. I feel extremely safe and relaxed during flights regardless of weather conditions, and that is in large part due to logic and statistics.
Boycotting Boeing is a good thing. They need to feel economic pressure.
Recommendation: If you haven't yet watched and want to fully enjoy The Rehearsal, skip the paragraph about The Rehearsal. The payoff is so much better as a surprise.
Fear of flying - Wikipedia
For folks who aren't aware.
(Personally I don't have a fear of flying, just a distaste for the process and discomfort of flying)
I don't have much choice about flying for work, and the experience has definitely gotten worse (I've had two cross-country trips in the past two weeks). Longer times on the tarmac, more weather delays, more crowded flights, less clean planes, more irritable security and gate personnel.
When you add up all the little stresses of travel, the seemingly constant barrage of newsworthy plane crashes globally, and people's general anxiety levels, it's not surprising that more people are manifesting this as fear of flying.
I have had to talk an aerophobic seatmate through a bumpy flight and landing. He'd never flown before and was in a barely controlled panic from the ups and downs of storm turbulence, shaking and soaking with sweat, hyperventilating... I felt so badly for him, because there was literally no escape from the situation other than waiting it out. I don't know if there's a recommended strategy for coaching someone through this. I was just a hand to hold and a voice narrating what was happening. "You're going to feel a bump - that's the landing gear being released" kind of talk.
I'm generally pretty rational and logical, my Bachelors is in Philosophy, I spent my 20's researching deeply into logical fallacies, logical reasoning and generally just a thrust towards sheer rationality.
But planes break my brain. I'm well aware of the statistics and usually have no issues leading up to the flight, but as soon as I'm on the plane, my lizard brain takes over and anxiety takes hold. I had a flight to Chicago last month that had to fly around and through some storms, which ended-up being turbulent for about 2 and a half hours of a three hour flight, which ended-up being just a non-stop panic attack for me.
The way back, I got solidly drunk, which helped a bit, but still didn't totally relieve it.
But I also think that my flight anxiety started around the time I weened myself of my meds for my general anxiety and I also think it has something to do with lack of control for me. I think I would feel 100% better if I was flying the plane and experiencing everything.
I don't have any particular fear of flying (trans-oceanic does freak me out a bit). But I've been told that most doctors will issue a script for a couple ambien if you have an up coming flight that you are anxious about. I've never felt the need but it's preferable to liquid courage :).
I have some Lorazepam that I ought to be taking for flights, but I use it so infrequently (I've had the same bottle for like 15 years now) that I just forget it.
Also, as someone with flying anxiety, flying from the US to the UK last year didn't really bother me much for whatever reason. It was very smooth and very calm, on my flight home I was able to just read my book the entire time and listen to music, without feeling much anxiety.
So sorry to hear you're among the afflicted! I wonder if it's also a motion sickness thing. When you're controlling a vehicle over bumpy roads, you've got visual cues to help compensate for the motion. [I can't read in a moving car without getting ill because I don't have that view.]
Air turbulence is completely invisible to the plane passengers, so all of that uncompensated inner ear activity seems like it would be pretty fear-inducing to me. Interestingly, most anti-anxiety medications can also be used to treat nausea and motion sickness. Nausea alone is such an aversive stimulus that people will refuse a food for life that they associate with illness, and those who've had chemo can also wind up with permanent medical anxiety.
Just spitballing a hypothesis, but maybe it can help in future?
Mirror: https://archive.is/mqOtI
Comment box
I normally care about Facts and Logic, but if irrational aerophobia convinces people to fly less and take trains more, that has substantial environmental benefits. As vehicle electrification grows, even a mode shift to cars is an unequivocal enviro improvement. The number of lives saved due to fewer CO2 emissions due to this “irrational” decision is consequential. (Directly from asthma and other respiratory conditions and indirectly from the numerous forms of climate change happening.)
The net social mental health benefit to avoiding premature deaths is high!
The counterargument is that a mode shift to cars results in more traffic fatalities (~1.2m baseline global). This is true, but still outweighed by avoided climate deaths from not emitting so much CO2 (~8m baseline global), plus incalculable indirect deaths. (Any mode shift would be a fraction of each, but a roughly proportional one.)
I guess the response to this depends on how narrowly or broadly you think about mental health. Even if aerophobia is silly, and even if it’s indicative of a larger pattern of people being unable to reconcile numbers with emotions, in this case it happens to be something of a benefit. Personally, I won’t fight it.