I agree. During that 9 hour flight that I completed yesterday I found that the “old” Sony wired earbuds were better at noise cancellation and more comfortable than the ANC over-ear headphones supplied by the airline (business class 
). The aircraft was very noisy throughout the flight so it was a relief to have noise cancellation. Funnily enough I started off with the earbuds the wrong way around and was puzzled by the poor noise cancellation. Swapping them around made a big difference so it confirms your point about a good fit being important.
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I have very flattened ear canals, and have not found any ear buds that fit me. I tried the AirPod Pro 3 at an Apple store and found they fit my ears marginally well, but with the indifferent seal they offered very little noise reduction.
I use Bose QuietComfort II over-the hear headphones for long flights. They are very comfortable, have very good noise reduction, great battery life, and come with a 1/8” cable that fits the entertainment system. But they are bulky (like most over-the-hear headphones). Bose has a newer model that I have not tried.
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After trying various options over the years, I have ended up using earphones from Etymotic with custom moulded tips from uk company Snugs . This is not a cheap solution but gives excellent sound isolation (I make frequent flights >10hrs and also do not like flight noise), the custom tips are very comfortable and provide an almost perfect seal (which Etymotic earphones require to deliver high quality sound). The isolation is almost too good and I often do not hear cabin announcements when using them on a flight, and I certainly cannot hear my partner when summoned from my home office for domestic service (
!!). The custom tips required getting a cast made at the audiologist, and sending this to Snugs. Quite a palaver, but the end result is really good.
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Anyone who hasn’t tried AirPods Pro 2 and 3 in adaptive mode is really missing out on a great feature. It cancels airplane noise more then well enough while also allowing outside noise (cabin announcements, flight attendants, your co-traveler) and you can still hear any media you are playing. And for those of us with a lot of them, automatic pairing to all of your Apple devices - wonderful.
AirPods Pro 2 are almost as good as the 3s - they just are a little leakier for me.
Maybe its noise cancellation isn’t as good as others, but it’s more than good enough. Though I guess with the caveat that they are as long as the ear tips work for you. I used to travel with Bose noise canceling earbuds but AirPods are so much more convenient. And my flights to and from Paris last year with 2s went fine - the batteries lasted the entire 6 hour light. And now the 3s are better.
Apple Silicon has been an amazing development.
My favorite ANC for airplanes — without going the full custom molded route — is a combo: AirPods Pro 2 or 3 in my ears, and woodworking type passive “ear muffs” (about $20) over them. Almost total silence. With the ability to listen to movies or music via bluetooth to the AirPods Pros.
Separately…
I enthusiastically second the recommendations for "Adaptive” on the AirPods Pro 2/3. It’s truly insanely great. I measured it at home to figure out what the heck it does, blasting music at varying levels and measuring on a dB meter. In effect, it lets you set a volume ceiling or cap. Anything louder gets reduced to your cap, and with virtually perfect fidelity. Anything quieter comes through transparently. It’s freaking amazing. I use it all the time now for loud music — concerts, social dancing; and I’ll definitely be using it in movie theaters. I suppose it has its limits, like if you are working next to jet planes or a shooting range, but that’s not my world.
You can set the ceiling/cap, with currently 3 levels to choose from. For loud external music, the settings are roughly 60 dB, 70-72 dB (default), 80 dB. The music comes through with virtually perfect fidelity — far better than the Etymotics ER20, Loops, EarPeace, Eargasm “music” earplugs. Yeah, I own them all. AirPods Pro 2/3 “Adaptive” is so infinitely superior to any of them, it’s not even funny. It’s also superior to AirPods Pro 2/3 full noise cancellation for music. For steady hums that are much more easily canceled, more noise goes away.
PS. My AirPods Pro 3s do not have any kind of high pitched noise issue.
However, I strongly prefer my AirPods Pro 2 for everything musical, because I dislike the 3s’ artificially hyped treble (even in “Adaptive”) and their weird artificially-but-poorly stretched soundstage. But who knows: maybe the 3s’ hyped treble will be helpful on airplanes to better hear vocals and dialog over the residual hum of the plane?
Final note: I did notice that the weird artificialities in the 3s, created by whatever signal-processing craziness Apple’s engineers were fooling around with, have been slightly lessened in the various firmware updates. But I still prefer the sound signature and naturalness of the 2s.
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After reading all the replies to this point, I’ll be getting AirPods Pro 3 with Snugs, I think. Thanks to everyone for your detailed and clear descriptions of your experiences and preferences!
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I like to wear foam earplugs during sleep. Many that I tried over the years were either too small or too large in diameter. Someone wrote a review of earplugs and mentioned that one can select precise diameters and lengths from Flents.
I tried several and found that the Quiet Time (purple) plugs were comfortable and, with an NRR of 33, pretty much all noise including barking dogs is eliminated. I now buy a bag of 70 every couple of years for $16.
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I always carry a few Hearos foam earplugs in my travel bag. I don’t use them on planes, but I find them indispensable for sleeping in hotel rooms with noisy climate control. The NRR 32 type that I use goes for $20-25 for a bag of 100 on Amazon.
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Though the nature sounds from MyNoise certainly helped.
Thanks, Tommy. You opened my eyes ears, because I was coming at it the wrong way.
Apple Music has a large assortment of white noise tracks, too. (Many sound exactly like the drone of a jetliner.) Since noise cancelling ear gear can’t attenuate my retail establishment’s playlist, I can at least replace it. If you can’t beat ‘em, drown ‘em out.
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This story made me think of this thread…
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