Travis Barker has praised Qantas Airlines as she travelled around Australia after conquering his fear of flying following a fatal 2008 plane crash.
The blink-182 drummer, 48, recently jetted Down Under with his wife Kourtney Kardashian and their family for his band’s first tour in the country in a decade.
The pop-punk band last toured Australia in 2013, but Travis did not join them due to his fear of flying, which stemmed from being a passenger in a 2008 plane crash.
Travis has previously credited his wife Kourtney, 44, with helping him overcome his fear of flying, and he has now shared a picture from his recent flight in Australia.
He took to his Instagram Stories on Friday to post a snap of his boarding pass from his February 7 flight from Sydney to Perth, where he performed at a string of shows.
Travis Barker (pictured with his wife Kourtney Kardashian) has praised Qantas after travelling around Australia and conquering his fear of flying following a fatal 2008 plane crash
Across the business class ticket, he had written: ‘I know I got angels watching over me,’ along with an outline of a cross.
The number 7 is seen by many as an ‘angel number’ and the musician’s ticket showed both the date February 7 and the seat number 7.
Last month, Travis joined his bandmates Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge Down Under for their much-awaited tour, marking their first tour in Australia since 2013.
Travis didn’t join the band on the 2013 tour, with Brooks Wackerman instead filling in on the sticks, due to his fear of flying.
On flights, Travis puts on noise-canceling headphones so he ‘cannot hear the landing gear retract’, listens to guided recordings from an energy healer and prays for loved ones he has lost.
Travis has previously credited ‘the power of love’ from his wife Kourtney – who he shares a son Rocky, four months, with – for helping him overcome his fear of flying.
He took to his Instagram Stories on Friday to post a snap of his boarding pass from his February 7 flight from Sydney to Perth, writing ‘I know I got angels watching over me’ across it. The number 7 is seen by many as an ‘angel number’ and the musician’s ticket showed both the date February 7 and the seat number 7
He said his partner had ‘healed’ him and his children – Landon, 20, and Alabama, 18 – following the crash in South Carolina 15 years ago, in which he was one of only two survivors.
Speaking to the LA Times, he said: ‘I think the power of love really helped me. Kourt made it so I fly, my kids fly now. She healed us.
‘It takes a little piece of my life every time I fly. The amount of stress and anxiety it causes is just unbearable. It brings up all this old trauma, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Is this worth it?’
‘But I don’t like anything having a hold on me, either — I don’t like being afraid, and I don’t like having things from my past control my future.’
Travis shares Alabama and Landon with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler, while he is also stepfather to Shanna’s daughter Atiana de la Hoya, 24.
In August 2021, Travis successfully took his first ride on an airplane for the first time in 13 years when he jetted to Cabo San Lucas with Kourtney.
In September 2008, Travis boarded a private jet in South Carolina to head to Los Angeles following a show, while accompanied by his friend Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein, his security guard Charles ‘Che’ Still, and his assistant Chris Baker.
Travis, 48, recently jetted Down Under for blink-182’s first tour in the country since 2013, when Travis did not join them due to his fear of flying, which stemmed from being a passenger in a 2008 plane crash
Travis has previously credited ‘the power of love’ from his wife Kourtney for helping him overcome his fear of flying, saying she had ‘healed’ him
As the small plane was attempting to take off, one of the tires suffered a blow out, causing the craft to overshoot the runway, burst through the airport’s fence and over the nearby highway, and finally crash into the embankment on the side of the road.
The pilot, Sarah Lemmon, and the co-pilot, James Bland, were killed within minutes from smoke inhalation and burns as the plane erupted into flames on impact, according to the Chicago Tribune. Still and Baker were also killed on impact.
Travis had third-degree burns over 65 per cent of his body and had to spend three months in the hospital while having skin grafts and 26 surgeries to repair the damage.
After the crash, Travis was overcome with a debilitating fear even at the sight of an airplane.