The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

With incredible noise cancelling, a range of remarkable hearing health features, terrific sound quality and great battery life, the AirPods Pro have long been my goto pair of headphones from Apple. So when Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3 at their September event, I was ecstatic! Apple touted that the AirPods Pro 3 featured even better noise cancellation, fit, and sound quality over its predecessor, and added additional health features with the addition of heart rate monitoring.

Serendipitously, I happened to be boarding a flight the night of their release, and what better way to stress-test the new AirPods Pro 3 than with a transatlantic flight? Air travel is where the AirPods Pro have really shone; their compact size, noise-cancellation, comfort, battery life, and sound quality make them a perfect package for the noisy, cramped cabins of economy class.

Prior to the flight, I measured my fit and wore them around the house for an hour; everything seemed great. I will add that these new foam tips do take some getting used to, as they feel noticeably dense, and I’ve seen some bloggers and podcasters say the new fit is less comfortable compared to the Pro 2's softer silicone. Personally, I don’t share this complaint.

My trouble came at 39,000 feet when I first noticed a high-pitched whine coming from my left AirPod. The issue was that the AirPod’s ear seal kept loosening, leading to a noise-cancellation feedback loop and a painfully loud piercing screech from the AirPod. Attempts to readjust worsened the feedback, especially if I accidentally covered the external microphone with my finger. This happened multiple times, making the experience so unpleasant that I eventually switched to my spare EarPods for the remainder of the flight. While disappointed, I wasn’t ready to condemn the headphones yet; perhaps the medium seal worked fine on terra firma, but on flights, I might need a different size for a better seal.

After landing, I tested the tips and switched from a Medium to Extra Small (Apple offers XXS, XS, S, M, or L tips for AirPods Pro 3). Both XS and M tips sealed well and were comfortable for long wear. For weeks, I couldn’t reproduce the whistling feedback, and I forgot about it until my next flight earlier this week.

Once again, it was only a few minutes after takeoff that the painful screech returned. Careful adjustments or yawning would fix the issue, but only for a couple of minutes at most. I figured that the new foam tips were trapping more heat, reducing airflow and ventilation, and less flexible, and that somehow all that was playing a role in loosening the seal. And when paired with the aircraft’s loud, steady hum, a feedback loop was created. But day to day, this is a non-issue because I never encounter the same types of pressure changes and noises that would reproduce this issue.

While researching this, I did happen upon a thread on Reddit which confirmed that others have reported a similar issue, principally with the left AirPod on flights, just like I tried to describe above:

“I also heard the whistling noise recently in the plane. The issue would go away for me as soon as I yawn, but after a while it would start making the whistling noise again. I noticed during ascent and descent it would get worse.”

“I have this issue too. Completely fine in normal life but awful on a plane.”

“Also having this issue on flight. It’s like a vibrating or swooshing noise. Definitely the ANC as it reduces when you turn on adaptive and none with transparency.”

So what’s going on? No idea. Apple hasn’t announced any recall or acknowledged the issue to date, and the few Reddit reports show that support calls that led to replacements returned pods that reproduced the issue. So either there are a few of us with stupidity-shaped left ears, the AirPods are glitching in some way, or something is happening on flights that the AirPods Pro 3 can't handle.

In Sum

I love the AirPods Pro 3, but with a denser fit that risks making them uncomfortable for some users and now this painful flight feedback issue, the AirPods Pro 3 aren’t as easy to recommend as the previous AirPods Pro 2. I can’t speak to how widespread this issue is, but my buying advice would be that if you are hoping to buy them, to do so close to your next flight and within the return window, so you can test them in the air and ensure you don’t run into the same painful feedback problem. Hopefully this is just a quirk with my ears or fit, because it’s hard to excuse a product that becomes not only unusable but downright painful to wear on a flight.