Passengers prefer 'smooth' landings but smooth landings have the risk of a bounce because as soon as the aircraft is in ground effect it requires much less energy to stay aloft. So smooth landings are riskier. Experienced pilots prefer safety over comfort and will not try to make a perfect landing from a comfort point of view but will force the aircraft out of ground effect and if that means a harder landing so be it.
Smooth does not equal greater chance of bounce. Smooth is not riskier.
A smooth landing is entirely down to the rate of descent from the flare. Yes you have ground effect to contend with, but wind / gusts, your approach speed over the threshold, the flare, your crosswind technique play a far greater part in ensuring the plane sets down gently.
Some days you’ll land smooth as butter. Other days you’ll be porpoising down half the runway thinking “So this is what pilot induced oscillations are”, before going around.
Generally big jets have to get all their main gear down, and if there’s a >10kt crosswind usually they’ll always come in a crab and straighten out as the wheels touch - those will always feel rough.
No pilot purposefully does hard landings; the co-pilot / captain has a litany of jokes lined up for such a scenario.
Most runways are long enough to bleed off any excess energy, and those that aren’t - well, you go around; but most airlines / pilots have minimums to be established in a stable approach by (way before getting to the flare) - if that doesn’t happen they’re following their “missed approach” procedure and trying again.
Interesting. Ok, so the stuff related above comes from a pilot of a pretty well known airline, I know the difference between a cross wind landing and a regular one, and there is a huge difference between a 'hard' landing as defined by the book and what a passenger experiences.
I meant the second version. Also, the size of the aircraft seems to have a major effect on the kind of landing you get.
