Can Amish Fly In Airplanes? (2 Exceptions)

Amish generally do not fly by airplane – with a few exceptions

amish airplaneThe short answer: no, Amish do not fly in planes. For the most part, Amish churches ban flying, though certain groups of Amish do permit it. Also, most Amish do allow air travel in extraordinary situations (eg, emergencies).

Why Amish don’t travel by air

Amish objections to air travel are mainly based in the idea that air travel is not considered essential.

Amish do make allowances for other forms of travel out of a recognition of a need to journey further than a horse-and-buggy allows. This may include visiting family in other settlements, sometimes out-of-state, or on business purposes.

Air travel may help a person arrive at a destination faster, but a car, bus, or other vehicle will get one there just the same. Air travel is also expensive, symbolic of a fast-paced lifestyle, and connected with luxury and worldliness in the minds of many Amish.

An American Airlines passenger jet flying in blue sky, seen from below
Air travel is seen as worldly by the Amish, and generally, unnecessary

Air travel typically requires photo identification, another hurdle, as most Amish object to posed photography.  While most Amish allow travel by other means, for instance as passengers in cars, trains, buses, and boats, air travel is a form of transportation generally prohibited by Amish.

Exception #1: New Order Amish Do Fly

New Order Amish churches, comprising around 3% of all Amish, represent one exception to the stricture against air travel.

For example, one New Order Amishman, before having children, flew regularly in his previous employment. Another New Order Amishman had no issue taking a business/vacation trip with his wife to Washington D.C.

Amish people approaching a small airplane with open door
New Order Amish churches do permit flying. Pictured: New Order Amish board a flight to Canada. Photo: Anna Schrock

New Order Amish, among the most permissive of Amish affiliations when it comes to technology, tend to take a softer line on air travel, and flying is generally allowed in most congregations.

Despite this, New Order Amish remain a horse-and-buggy people, and have much else in common with other Amish.

Exception #2: Emergencies

Regardless of affiliation, most Amish permit flying in emergencies. This comes into play most often when accidents require rapid transport, often by helicopter, to distant hospitals.

A Nappanee, Indiana Amishman once described to me how his young son was transported to a hospital in Michigan after a serious buggy accident.

His toddler son was run over by a buggy one summer. The boy was airlifted to a hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Thankfully, the boy survived and was doing fine.

Lacking insurance as Amish do, this father estimated the price tag for the helicopter trip would come to around $10,000. He wasn’t excited about that.

amish helicopter
Amish may fly in medical emergencies

One comfort – members of his church were to pitch in, as the Amish usually do for each other in cases like this. As this example shows, the Amish have their rules, which make sense in the context of their system of values, yet they are pragmatic about it as well.

That’s why if you buy a previously English-owned home, some churches allow you to live in it for up to a year before having to cut off the power. It’s also why some Amish travel to Tijuana for discount surgery, use battery-powered headband flashlights to see at night, hire taxis, and so on.

Being in the world but not “of” it doesn’t mean you can’t adapt when practicality or emergency requires it.

Ultimately Amish consider the well-being of church members in their approach to technology. Nodding to practicality, most Amish see value in flying in emergency situations. However, they nearly universally ban it for business or personal purposes.

For more, see:

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    11 Comments

    1. Kate

      This is really interesting! I’ve always wondered about this but never really thought to ask any of my Amish friends about it. One couple drove all the way to Mexico (cheaper dentures there I guess) with a hired driver, I wondered if it wouldn’t have been cheaper just to fly! Thanks for the info.
      Kate

    2. That’s sort of funny… I was flying from America to Australia the other week, and one of the air hostesses asked me if I was Amish. My first response was, “The Amish don’t fly!”… Then I told her no, but I was a Christian. Well, my comment has been proven wrong… But it was a good conversation-opener, though. She thought headcovering was an Old Testament practice…

      1. Slightly-handled-Order-man

        Are you a Plain Quaker, Rachel?

    3. lisa moeller

      Amish people in Vientiane / Laos?

      I saw a group of Amish people doing sightseeing in Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. exists there a community of Amish people or what could be the reason they have been there?

      thank you very much for answering my questions.

      lisa

    4. Valerie

      New Order Amish CAN Fly

      Lisa, I was told by a New Order Amish woman that they are allowed to fly but Old Order are not-and it is not always easy to tell the difference by appearance so most likely they were New Order Amish (or another very plain sect).

      In fact recently I talked with a New Order Amish man who was going to fly with his wife, to SanDiego CA to go to a dental clinic in Mexico (which saves oodles of $), but from what I understand Amish either do not allow it at all or it would be an extremely rare exception-(from what I’ve been told)

      1. lisa moeller

        Amish people in vientiane / Laos

        DEar Valerie,

        your answer is that what I already knew. Maybe somebody else know something about Amish people in Laos. I`ve been there at the beginning of February this year.

        kind regards,

        lisa

    5. Don Curtis

      Amish in China

      I don’t know about Laos but my son, Mark, was in China during the month of October. Yes, he flew. Most New Order Amish may travel by air. So, if you saw an Amishman on the Great Wall of China or in the Forbidden City, it may have been Mark!

      1. lisa moeller

        Amish people in Vientiane / Laos

        thank you very much for your reply, Don. It was a group of Amish people with two women, three men and a lot of children and it looked very strange because they wore their Amish outfit.

        have a nice evening,

        lisa

    6. Don Curtis

      Mileage counter

      By-the-way, the old mileage counter clicked over, again, on November 24th. I turned 92. Funny. I don’t feel a day over 88.

      1. Happy birthday Don! Thanks for letting us know. Having seen you a couple of times in person, you get around well for being in your 90s–definitely like an 88 year old if not younger than that 🙂

        It’s funny this thread reactivated yesterday and today of all days…I am currently in Washington Dulles airport, having unexpectedly spent the night here last night (well, in a hotel) when a flight was cancelled due to “mechanical failure”. I will get to Poland somehow, but a trip like this makes you wonder if the Amish aren’t wise to reject air travel 😉 At least the airport has wi-fi.

        Adding to the above, New Order Amish do travel by air. I don’t know anything specifically about Laos, but I do know someone who did relief work in the southeast Asia, Indonesia I believe. Thanks for sharing that Lisa.