Air travel and its attendant inconveniences are stressful, prompting passengers to fling foot powder and pull the hair of a blind fellow traveler, among other transgressions. And, as we all know by now, dealing with those unruly passengers can produce its own special breed of angst, which JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater is alleged to have vented yesterday by frankly airing his views on the PA system, grabbing a few brewskis, then activating the plane’s inflatable escape chute for a clean getaway to the tarmac and beyond. (He was later arrested and appeared in court today.)

That kind of reaction, UK-based aviation clinical psychologist Robert Bor (who has expertise in both passenger and crew behavior) would like to remind everyone, is rare. “Most air crew are resilient people who are calm under fire, and have a strong customer focus,” he tells us. Rarely, he says, do we hear of cases like this, which, he says delicately, “takes things to another level.”

Bor tells the Health Blog that beyond the delays and the hassles and extra baggage fees, airplane travel is psychologically stressful in ways we aren’t even aware of. First, you’re taking a body that is “best designed and equipped to be self-propelling at a few miles an hour under the conditions of terrestrial gravity” and putting it in unnatural circumstances that prompt motion sickness, fatigue, dehydration and other ill physical effects, as he and his co-editor write in the forward of their book “Aviation Mental Health: Psychological Implications for Air Transportation.”

Compound all of this with the fact that many people “have a fear of flying that they don’t discuss openly” and that travel can involve family disclocation and other stressful leave-takings. And, while security lines have always been a pain in the neck, there’s something about removing shoes and belts that is particularly discomfiting, he says. Under all those circumstances, “to expect people to behave in a compliant manner is reasonable, but we shouldn’t be surprised when people fall short,” Bor says.

How do we, as passengers, do our part to avoid the kind of rage that leads to conflicts? “There are things about air travel that we can all predict,” Bor says. “You know there’s likely to be a delay, you know there’s likely to be a queue, you know you’ll have to remove some of your clothes. Mentally prepare yourself. If you have a fear of flying or other problems — deal with them. And don’t react and take things personally.”

“The idea that air travel in the 21st century should reflect the kind of comforts and entitlements and privileges that we associate with air travel in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s — that’s a dream that people hold on to,” he says. “But sometimes those expectations exceed what can be provided, so prepare yourself as if things won’t go as planned.”

Bad Behavior Bonus: Our colleagues over at the Juggle blog start a conversation on more productive ways to relieve work stress, while the Middle Seat Terminal blog notes this is an example of how not to deal with an unruly passenger.

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