Any ideas for seeing inside a plane before committing to a ticket?

[M1M2Sibling]

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading. I have an 8 year old who has never flown and he’s obsessed with the New York Subway so I’d one day love to take him. It’s too far (and too expensive!) for now so I’m considering a short haul domestic UK flight in the near future.

My son is autistic. He can communicate well but does have extreme anxiety over doing something new. He’s told me how desperate he is to see the NYC subway and he likes the plan of a short haul to try it out. My worry is that he will step one foot on the plane and panic and we’ll need to get off and that will be lost money and he’ll feel bad.

This is most likely impossible but does anyone know if there is a way of him looking inside a plane without the need to fly? I’d then know if he’ll be able to handle the environment without having to get us tickets, go through security etc only for him to board and possibly panic (which then brings on feelings of failure for him).

Thanks again for reading. From looking online it looks like this isn’t possible, but I thought it may be worth an ask 😊

BA has a special guide for passengers with autism. Delta Air Lines also has special services for customers with autism, including being able to board early and settle in before other passengers.

There was a similar thread recently, although a younger child due to go on holiday with ex-husband and his new family. Child was expressing anxiety about the trip and the (presumably) mother posted here for suggestions for an internal flight to take the child on, in advance of the big trip.

Many of the responses pointed out that flights on small planes can be bumpy and might increase the child's anxiety.

Not exactly the same situation as yours but something to bear in mind.

But there have been many good suggestions on this thread so perhaps you could try them out so that he becomes used to various elements separately and then eventually only the flight itself will be a new experience. Eg, being on stationary planes, visit an airport, take public transport that's crowded/bumpy/goes through tunnels, large shopping malls with lots of eateries (to simulate an airport like Heathrow).

I went on an internal flight at that age and I think I was more excited than nervous, but that's because I was too young to be aware of plane crashes and hijacking!

Is there a museum near you with a plane you can walk through?

I've walked through various military planes, Concorde and the main cabin of a normal plane in various museums up and down the country

The new York subway is horrible. Tell him not to get his hopes up! If he loves trains then France, Spain and Italy have nicer ones!
But yeah, as others say there is grounded planes you can look at inside. I think there's even a restaurant/hotel inside a repurposed jumbo jet.

It’s a widebody plane but you can do a virtual walk-round of a TUI Dreamliner- you can even visit the cockpit. matterport.com/discover/space/JjgAUfkzeEs

This is a good point. I live in New York and the subway is in fact horrible. Dirty, crowded, run down, smells terrible, lots of homeless people and people with MH issues. Sometimes musicians and dancers perform inside the cars which can be fun but if you’re concerned that your ds would find it hard to get on a plane I would be equally or more worried about a subway car. What does your son find interesting about it?

@fairlygoodmother yeah. I lived there back in the early 00s and it was shit then. No doubt worse now! Trains in Europe are luxury in comparison.

Would a trip to London to go on the tube be a more suitable substitute for the NY subway than a SH flight? Or am I missing something?

No issues if he doesn't like it, just get off at the next stop?

One note is that not all planes from an airline are the same so if your mind gets fixed on what to expect and it's not the same inside or paint outside etc would that be an issue. Maybe keep it generic, seat belt, windows, wings, engines, flight deck etc?

Hopefully he will grow out of the subway idea. Maybe there are some parts that are nicer than others but the bits I've been on were like hell on earth.

Take him to the Concorde museum in Bristol. You can walk right inside an old Concorde. There's a flight simulator in another building there too. It's a fab day out!

aerospacebristol.org/

Also following. My Ds is older. Went on a plane once aged 18 with a College trip. Got pulled over by Security both ways. Now terrified. OP I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your thread. I noticed it as Ds was (& still is) fascinated by subways. I imagine the NY subway would be massive sensory overload so you'd have to build in plenty of downtime. Ds first attempted the Tube aged 8 & it was both totally wonderful & totally overwhelming.