Most of my travel by air is pleasure. And most of that is international (US->Europe). I'd say the most anxiety-inducing part of every flight is check-in and s

Most of my travel by air is pleasure. And most of that is international (US->Europe). I'd say the most anxiety-inducing part of every flight is check-in and security. I started my career (and had budget for travel) at roughly the same time as 9/11, so for many years, security delays were a real problem in the US... 3+ hour lines at IAD were common. The thought of missing a flight because I'm caught in some sort of airport security limbo is awful for me. And because most flights from DC->Europe leave in the evening, there won't be another until tomorrow (or worse, two days out, on some discount airlines). The flight itself is pretty low down the list of things that bother me. I don't check baggage (at least outbound, sometimes I have to check coming home if I buy too many gifts), so lost luggage isn't a concern. Mechanicals happen, but so far, they've never been bad enough to cancel/reschedule the flight. And once I'm in Europe, I usually have a car or take a train, so connections not an issue. For flights that do have a connection, they're usually frequent enough to not be a problem (ie, Heathrow to Glasgow on BA).