Parents flying together?

My wife and I have planned a weekend away in April, right now we are scheduled to fly there together but come home on different days due to work etc. She is nervous of the 2 of us flying together in case something happens (we have 3 kids). There is a second flight 45 min after the one we have scheduled, so the timing wouldn't be that much of an issue. But we would loose out on sharing the time flying together. This is our first trip with out the kids in over 4 years and we have flown together many times before but this time she is extra worried.
I once worked with someone who wouldn't fly with his whole family on one flight.

what are your opinions on this?

Do you drive together in the car? I think it's more of a danger driving to and from the airport together then flying together.

That's what I tell her everyday, and even my daughter has told her there is a better chance of something happening on the way to the airport then on the flight itself, but she feels that if its a car accident there is a good chance of survival, but if the plane crashes chances aren't so good.

Another issue to consider is that by taking two separate planes, the odds of ONE of those planes having a problem is greater.

The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. IMHO if your wife has this (irrational) fear, and you don't have time to seek counselling for her, then it is only fair to give in to her on this occasion.

I think this is the kind of question one really has to go with their own "gut" on. We have two kids and have traveled to the same destination, both together and on separate flights. The latter being driven by our different work schedules more than anything else. I echo what others here have said about how safe flying is as compared to driving, but again I think you just have to go with your own intuition. There really is no right or wrong here. Have a great trip!

Agree with Speedbagel- whatever the odds are, you've doubled them by using two planes instead of one. Also, you eliminate the possibility of joining the mile-high club :)

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Originally Posted by Ari707

My wife and I have planned a weekend away in April, right now we are scheduled to fly there together but come home on different days due to work etc. She is nervous of the 2 of us flying together in case something happens (we have 3 kids). There is a second flight 45 min after the one we have scheduled, so the timing wouldn't be that much of an issue. But we would loose out on sharing the time flying together. This is our first trip with out the kids in over 4 years and we have flown together many times before but this time she is extra worried.
I once worked with someone who wouldn't fly with his whole family on one flight.
what are your opinions on this?

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I'll give you three scenarios:
1) In the late 1980's when I was living in the Seattle area, a guy was sitting at a stoplight on his way home from work. A few floors above, an elderly man put the gear shift in "D" instead of "R" and drove through the wall of the parking garage. Yep--he landed right on the guy in the car. One second the poor guy was at a stoplight, the next he was at the Pearly Gates wondering what happened...

2) A few months ago a guy was walking down a sidewalk and a bunch of floors up a construction worker dropped a tape measure. Another customer at the Pearly Gates wondering what happened. If he had been six or eight inches in any direction, he would not have died.

3) A few years ago a guy was laying in bed in Florida. A sinkhole opened up under him and his body has never been found. We can only hope the poor guy went fast enough to arrive at the Pearly Gates wondering what happened.

See a trend here? When your number is up, it's up. When it's not, it's not. There are a lot of opposite cases, plane crashes, for instance, where only one person survived.

Of course, having said that, I'm generally not one to try to make my number work toward the top--so you won't see me free-climbing El Capitan or anything like that.

My parents never flew on the same plane after me and my brother were born. Back in the day I think more couples with kids did this. If plane
goes down and both parents are killed, kids orphaned. I also know of guys who are partners in businesses or law offices won't fly together for this same reason. It's your choice but if I was in your shoes I would think kids first and never fly together. Especially if logistically it works.

I have offered the increase in odds if we are on separate planes, her answers was at least one of us would be alive for the kids.

davegu - she has a fear of flying, though I would not call it irrational, even though she does it all the time, she is never comfortable. At this point the only thing that may keep us on the same flights is the cost to switch the one flight. Which doesn't help the logic argument of this at all.

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Originally Posted by Ari707

I would not call it irrational,

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Sorry, I didn't mean to infer that your wife is being irrational. It is only irrational to those of us who have no fear of flying!

no problem, I love flying, and she likes traveling but hates flying but puts up with it since it gets her to where she wants to be.
She has been flip-flopping back and forth as to what to do, and is having a hard time deciding, I told her to set a deadline for herself today and decide.

My wife flies the B-25 at airshows and I fly the C-47, our museum won't let us fly together

Yesterday after much debate, we ended up changed my flight. she is now calm so it is worth it 100%, it isn't a big deal our flight are scheduled 45 mins apart. We will hang our in the lounge before the flights and we will just meet by baggage claim and go on from there, no big deal.