Ash anxiety: coping with the age of disruption

Thinking twice about booking a summer holiday? Considering upgrading your travel insurance? Or staying at home altogether? Welcome to ash anxiety

AIRPORTS CAN be stressful at the best of times, so when a flight is delayed or even cancelled due to an act of God and an Icelandic volcano, some people go from stress to distress very quickly. “I get a panic attack just walking into an airport. I have to take a few deep breaths first,” says Gary Byrne, a specialist journalist on the airline industry.

The hassle of strict baggage limits and extra charges are one thing; finding yourself stranded in a foreign place with no way to get home is quite another, and it’s a risk that even Byrne, who knows that flying is still safe, isn’t sure he wants to take.

With the ash cloud meandering unpredictably in the skies, Irish airports were closed again yesterday, just weeks after the crisis that saw 100,000 flights in Europe cancelled over six days. “Ash anxiety” has some people wondering whether they should plan to fly abroad on holiday at all this summer, or use the ferry and bring their car, or just stay at home.

“There is absolutely nothing to fear from a safety point of view”, says Evan Cullen, a pilot with the IALPA (Irish Airline Pilot Association). Anxiety is justified, however, about cost and inconvenience every time the volcanic ash wafts over Ireland, he adds.

John Hannon of Met Éireann says that ash is impossible to forecast. It’s this very fickleness that makes already anxious types feel even more anxious.

It’s all about “perception of risk”, says Anthony McCarthy, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Dublin. When people are deciding whether to book a flight for next week or next month or even later, they have nothing to go on but their own perception of how likely it is that another ash disruption will occur. And since even the meteorologists and volcanologists can’t tell us, it’s up to the individual to assess the risk.

“Risk has to be believed, because it can’t be experienced. You know once you go into the area of subjective belief whether you are a worrier or not,” he says.

“Some mothers of new babies will be up all night checking that the baby is breathing, while others will say, ‘I need some sleep. The baby will be fine.’”

It’s the same with making travel plans. “There are very anxious people, obsessional worriers who need certainty and can’t deal with even the tiniest of doubts. They are in trouble. Those who don’t trust information are in trouble, too, because they will overevaluate the risk. Other people won’t see any problem at all. They may underestimate or even deny risk.”

The people most likely to worry about volcanos disrupting their lives are those who try to control their environments: the less control they have, the more anxious they become, says McCarthy, who flew to London and back at the weekend. “I wouldn’t be at the stage of not planning to travel abroad this summer, if I could afford it,” he adds.

Psychiatrist Siobhán Barry says the people most likely to cope with unexpected flight delays have “hearty resilient personalities”. They accept in advance that things are not always going to go to plan. The last time the Icelandic volcano erupted, in 1918, the ash clouds rumbled up for years, so anyone travelling needs to get used to disruption.

If you’re going to travel regardless, then “approach it with an expectation that anything could happen and it will come good in the end,” she advises.

Bring books to read, clean up files on your lap-top and have plenty of funds. “If you can’t tolerate uncertainty, maybe you should stay home.”

Families with young children should certainly consider travelling by ferry and car rather than by plane, while young people travelling abroad on their own for the first time after Leaving Cert exams may be best advised not to go this year, she says.

At Dublin Port yesterday, Dr Gary O’Hare, a GP who lives in the UK, was bringing his wife, Laura, and three-year-old son, Alexander, onto Irish Ferries for the trip home, after their Ryanair flight was cancelled due to ash. “I’m not anxious about flying. I think to be honest airports are a lot of hassle. This experience of the ferry has impressed me so far and I would do it again.”

Daphne Shackleton travels often on Irish Ferries to visit her daughter in Manchester. “I don’t worry about flying. On the ferry there is more to see – especially in the summer, the birds and the view – and it’s more relaxing.”

Seamus Belton, from Dundalk, headed to Dublin Port yesterday after his flight was cancelled. While he flies frequently, he is taking the ferry more often because it is reliable and disruption in his business (he’s in PR) causes major problems.

Irish Ferries says its long-term bookings for holiday travel are up this year because people like the idea of bringing their cars with them, so that if there is a major incident and Europe closes down, they’re not trapped.

In April, 1,000 travellers with Sunway travel agency effectively got an extra unexpected week’s holiday free of charge due to the firm’s “duty of care,” says managing director Tanya Airey. She paid out of her own pocket and would do it again. “If there’s ash anxiety, I haven’t seen it. People do ask whether they will get their money back if their holiday is cancelled before they depart due to ash and we tell them yes,” she says.

TRAVEL TIPS FOR PARANOID PEOPLE

WHEN THEY eventually got home, many of those affected by the volcano resolved to never leave this island again. With more, and cheaper hotel rooms than ever before, restaurants slashing prices and Eyjafjallajokull still belching angrily, the “never again” option is gaining currency. All we need now is for the summer to bring us some serious sunshine and we’ll be all set. What’s that you say? The ash cloud is threatening to ruin our summer too?

TIP 1: Use a travel agent

We abandoned them when cheap DIY web deals came calling, but now we’re pleading with them to take us back. Travel agents aren’t glamorous but they do offer peace of mind and security that can’t be matched by independent travelling. If your holiday falls victim to a cloud of volcanic dust, tour operators have to give you your money back or offer you an alternative package.

TIP 2: Take the ferry

Low-cost air travel has us spoiled. The way some young folk caught up in the ash cloud grumbled about their coach and ferry experiences made it clear that they’d never been on the hot, smoke-filled “Super Bus” which slowly ferried us all to London in the past. They don’t know how good they have it: air-conditioned coaches with toilets, Wi-Fi and TV screens bringing us to volcano-proof ferries. The ferry experience is secure, comfortable and can be a lot cheaper too.

TIP 3: Upgrade your insurance

Travel insurance? What is it good for? Well, not as much as you might have thought. The Act of God clauses hidden in the terms and conditions mean that companies won’t have to pay out for disruption caused by recent volcanic activity. And pleading atheism doesn’t help. You can buy policies that do offer enhanced protection and it may well be worth spending €100 more if it allows you to make a claim because your plane is disrupted by an eruption.

TIP 4: Book but don’t pay

It’s tempting to pay upfront for hotel rooms or car hire, but as Chris de Burgh reminded us with great prescience many years ago, it’s not a good idea to pay the ferryman until his ferrying work is done. Hotels and car hire companies offer special rates if you pay in full weeks or months ahead of time. Resist the urge. One of the advantages of booking a hotel or car is that you, generally speaking, have the right to cancel up to 24 hours before you arrive, at no cost.

– Conor Pope