Sometimes it's unavoidable to fly through light and moderate turbulence, but rest assured your pilots are working to find smooth air. If they encounter severe or extreme turbulence not forecasted, pilots will quickly climb or descend to a safe and smooth altitude.”

When encountering turbulence, pilots follow a series of standardized safety and operational procedures to ensure the structural integrity of the aircraft and the comfort of everyone on board. First, they illuminate the "Fasten Seatbelt" sign and coordinate with the cabin crew to ensure all passengers and unsecured items are stowed. Technically, pilots will adjust the aircraft's speed to the "Turbulence Penetration Speed" (Vb​ or Va​), which is slow enough to reduce the stress on the airframe but fast enough to maintain stable flight. They use onboard weather radar to identify the most severe pockets of air and communicate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) to request altitude changes to find "smoother air" reported by other nearby flights. Modern autopilots often have a "Turbulence" mode that dampens the system's response to prevent erratic movements. Contrary to popular belief, pilots do not "fight" the turbulence with large control inputs; instead, they focus on maintaining a level attitude and a stable heading, allowing the aircraft to ride the waves of air naturally while monitoring flight instruments closely.