Frequent fliers may have the hang of things, but, if you’re like many, you get stressed at the airport.

According to a new survey by Priority Pass, stress is now an almost intrinsic part of the flying experience, hitting passengers well before they even reach the airport. And during the holidays, more people means more stress in the air.

"I think in most cases, it's a lack of control," said Rick Weiss, a retired captain with Southwest Airlines. “They're handing over their life to a person they don't even know. In most cases on Southwest flights, those people … they're not known to them. And they have no idea what their capabilities are. What they're training is an alien escort.

“That's where I come in. I try to help them understand the level of training, the experience of knowledge that the crews have and dealing with everyday flights."

Weiss teaches a fear of flying class at Albany International Airport with psychiatrist Dr. Griffan Randall. According to Randall, 6-10% of the general population have a phobic level of fear of flying. But, about 40% of the general population has some range of fear of flying.

While airport anxiety is normal, Randall says, there are things you can do to ease it a bit.

"We talk about beginning exposure therapy," said Randall. "There are things called distress tolerance, radical acceptance, cognitive behavioral therapy. And those are just some of the multitude of therapeutic options, as well as some of the medication options, if and when necessary that we also talk about."

And if you do get stressed, take advantage of on-site supports like a therapy dog.

"We have to think ahead," said traveler Richard VanPatten. "We've got to make sure that we're paying attention to where the shortest line is or where somebody looks like they're having done this before or haven't done it in a long time and try to avoid that."

Some frequent fliers say there's no real secret, just stick to the basics like getting to the airport early.

"Holidays is a little crazier just because you get a lot of transient people that aren't used to flying," said traveler Chris Sampone. "So I always make sure I get my stuff a lot more time just because you're dealing with, you know, more inexperienced fliers than you were doing, like in a corporate [setting] midweek. I just always try and give myself enough time and just make sure that I'm organized.

“I think organization is probably the most important part. You know, if you've got your boarding flight and your ID and everything is in order, it kind of  promotes for a really nice calm travel. If you're scrambling last minute, [and] you don't know where your belongings are, your ID, that can probably increase your stress levels a lot."