A little more affection for airplanes could fight the fear of flying, Javier Marías writes for Granta. He would feel a lot more at ease if pilots would show the respect for their planes that ship captains once displayed for their vessels. Marías tends to anthropomorphize the planes he rides on, thinking of them as a living entity, capable of its own personality. He writes:
Given how often we travel in planes, the odd thing about our relationship with them–those complex machines endowed with movement to which we surrender ourselves and that transport us through the air–is that it isn’t more ‘personal’, or more ‘animal’, or more ‘sailor-like’, if you prefer…. That’s what I would like to see, less cool efficiency and more affection.
Source: Granta