What Airports Can Teach Us About Decision-Making Under Pressure

Have you ever stepped off a plane to discover your connecting flight leaves in 42 minutes, your gate has changed, and it is located in a terminal that appears to be in another zip code?

In that moment, your brain starts working overtime. Should you sprint to the new gate? Find an airline agent? Rebook your flight? Call ahead and explain you’ll be late? Every option seems urgent and none comes with a guarantee.

Most of us have experienced some version of this. The details may be different, but the feeling is the same: pressure.

Pressure has a funny way of making simple decisions feel complicated. It can also tempt us to react emotionally rather than think clearly.

In his book. “It Takes What It Takes,” Trevor Moawad talks about neutral thinking—focusing on what’s true, what’s happening right now, and what needs to happen next. It is the cornerstone of what he taught elite athletes and teams.

That sounds simple until you’re under pressure.

When things go sideways, our brains tend to sprint toward one of two destinations: panic or wishful thinking. Neither is particularly helpful. Panic convinces us the sky is falling. Wishful thinking convinces us the sky isn’t falling when it clearly is.

Neutral thinking lives in the middle. It acknowledges reality without adding unnecessary drama.

Military leaders have long understood this. So have coaches. And so have veteran travelers like me. The purpose of a plan is not to predict the future perfectly. If it did, airports, weather forecasts, and GPS systems would never be wrong. No, the purpose of a plan is to give you a starting point. Once new information appears, strong leaders adapt.

That adaptability requires courage because every decision carries risk. Moawad writes, “To have a chance to throw a touchdown pass that wins the Super Bowl, you have to be willing to throw the interception that loses the Super Bowl. Those two things live in the same moment.”

In other words, avoiding mistakes is not the goal. Making the best decision with the available information is.

So, when pressure hits, remember three things:

• Slow the moment with neutral thinking. Create space before deciding.

• Clarify the objective. Know what success requires.

• Commit and move forward. Momentum matters.

When pressure rises, remember this: pressure amplifies habits. If your habit is panic, you’ll panic faster. If your habit is thoughtful decision-making, you’ll make better decisions, even if you’re doing it while jogging through Terminal C.

Strong leaders decide—not perfectly, but purposefully.