Airports address fear of flying
— -- "Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight."
No matter what your pilot tells you, taking a plane trip these days is likely to be irritating, uncomfortable and, at times, downright maddening.
For millions of people it's all that and absolutely frightening.
Despite statistics that tell us flying is one of the safest modes of travel, many people will only fly if they have to. Others are so afraid of flying that they will never travel by air at all. And when someone is too afraid to fly they can end up grounding not only themselves, but their families, their vacations and their careers.
According to the Valk Foundation, a joint project of the University of Leiden, KLM and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, up to 40% of people experience some level of anxiety about flying. Then there are those who have a phobia or fear of flying. That can be caused by anything, "from a bad experience with turbulence to vertigo, a compulsion to remain in control, or claustrophobia."
For years, Maria Smyth was one of those truly fearful fliers. The 42-year-old Smyth runs an office-services business out of her home in Phoenix, and for years did whatever she could to avoid flying. "I know planes are safe. I know the statistics. But what I worry about is if something does go wrong, I can't say 'Let me help you out.' I don't have any control over what's happening."
Smyth's fear of flying made her turn down offers to teach classes in other cities. And for years, she put off making plane reservations to visit her grandfather back east. Then her grandfather died and "I couldn't even go to his funeral," Smyth says. "It took me three weeks to get there." After that, Smyth decided to make a change. "This fear had kept me from making those reservations. And I had this overwhelming guilt. So I decided to take control of my life and not be paralyzed like this anymore."
Fortunately for Smyth there were free monthly classes for fearful fliers nearby, at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Taught by Ron Nielsen, a veteran airline pilot with a master's degree in counseling, the Cleared 4 Takeoff seminar is like similar programs around the country that are held in therapist's offices, classrooms and in airports. First, participants are encouraged to identify and talk about what it is about flying that scares them. Then, says Nielsen, "We educate people about flying and airplanes. We identify the noises and point out that most of them are routine. We banish myths and we replace the scary things that people have made up with facts." Finally, class members learn coping techniques, many of which involve breathing exercises and distraction, such as listening to unfamiliar music or a book on tape.
Most of Nielsen's monthly Cleared 4 Takeoff classes stay inside the airport, but every three months he schedules a session that starts in the classroom and ends with a short round-trip flight on a commercial airplane. Class members must pay for their own plane tickets, but they fly together as a group. Nielsen says that way fearful fliers "get support from me and their peers," and sometimes end up "dancing in the aisles."
Anxiety is contagious
Twice each year, during October and February, an Overcoming Fear of Flying class is offered by Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. "Eight people have already signed up for October," says airport spokesperson Pat Rowe. "For us it's a way to encourage people to fly. And while the airport subsidizes the costs of the program, we gain new customers for the airlines."
The four-session course costs $175 and includes three classes at the airport and one short round-trip flight with Dr. Michael P. Tomaro, a Milwaukee Aviation Psychologist and Certified Flight Instructor who has been the course instructor for 20 years.
Tomaro is pleased to be able to help individuals learn to manage their anxieties about flying, but says the fear of flying is really a safety issue for everyone who flies. "A fearful person can look like a violent person and be mistaken for someone who wants to damage the flight. Other passengers may not know how to deal with someone who's having an anxiety attack and that can raise the anxiety level of everyone in the cabin. And flight crews not trained in how to deal with fearful fliers can mistakenly escalate someone into the throws of a panic attack instead of helping."
Airline assistance
In the past, many airlines offered their own fear of flying programs. Pan Am may have been the first, with a program that started back in 1975. Over the years, fear of flying classes were offered by American Airlines, US Airways and Northwest Airlines (the WINGS programs), but like so many other passenger services, the fear of flying programs offered by domestic carriers have been dropped.
Several international carriers, however, still offer fear of flying classes. In Australia, a course offered in association with Qantas Airways includes classes, tours and a Qantas flight. In the Netherlands, KLM works with the VALK Foundation to offer classes that include a flight from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
In the UK, Virgin Atlantic's one day Flying Without Fear classes are "still only only £199, + VAT" and include 2000 Virgin Airmiles, a hot meal, a relaxation CD, insurance, a 45-minute flight and a certificate of achievement signed by Sir Richard Branson.
And at Orly Airport in Paris, Air France sponsors a Stress-free Flying workshop that lasts seven hours and is offered twice a week. For 600 euros, or about $937, four people at a time learn about stress and stress management, what to expect inside of the airline cabin, and the ins and outs of aviation. Then, says Eric Adams, the captain in charge of the program since 1993, "We take them in the flight simulator. The same one used by pilots for training. We simulate turbulence and we even simulate an engine failure on take-off to show that even if an engine breaks down, the plane is designed to overcome that."
Adams says the program has about a 95% success rate. "We'd like it to be 100%. But the other 5% are usually people who have a significant problem in their daily life and the airplane is not the source of the problem – but the scapegoat."
Airport hassles become triggers
Like Adams and others, Capt. Ron Nielsen with the Cleared 4 Takeoff classes in Phoenix says that while air travel is definitely becoming more stressful, it's not really the long lines at the airport, the TSA or even the threat of terrorism that makes people afraid to fly. Rather, "Those are the triggers that release these little time bombs inside people who are already afraid to fly."
Maria Smyth knows all about those triggers. She's taken Nielsen's class several times and now flies once or twice a year. She's by no means a carefree flier. "I still need a little bit of medication to fly and only recently stopped leaving my will out on my dresser each time I take a flight." But Smyth is definitely making progress. She and her husband, Phil, flew to Orlando for their 10th wedding anniversary. And last May, Smyth flew to Philadelphia to surprise her grandmother for Mother's Day.
"I'm still working on it," says Smyth. "My goal now is to be able to fly like 'normal' people. You know, socialize and talk while I'm on the plane."
More fear of flying resources
In addition to the classes mentioned in this story, there are dozens of fear of flying courses and clinics offered around the country and many therapists who specialize in this field. To find a resource in your community, check your airport website, local business directory or bookstore.
Harriet Baskas writes about travel etiquette for MSNBC.com and is the author of Stuck at the Airport.
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