Fear of Flying Help | Flying Fear and Your Career

Flying Fear and Your Career

Businesswoman Jodi Smith can isolate when things began to unravel at her previous career. Two months ago, she boarded a flight in Denver en route to a mandatory corporate summit in Philadelphia. The fear was too traumatic. Soon after, she quit.

The intimidating plane trip panicked Stacey Daniels. She missed a very important seminar due to her severe apprehension.  Instead of flying she rented a sports car and drove to the meeting, but arrived much too late. The sourcing corporation executives were not happy. It only got worse from there and she left.

Fear of flying restricts – or at least burdens – the jobs of millions of Americans.  Also known as aviaphobia, it causes many employees to pass up promotions or fail to go to out-of-town meetings, training sessions or sales calls. It can reduce productivity and damage relations with employers. In some situations, it limits careers  by pigeonholing individuals in jobs that they’re not well-matched  for however that will keep them firmly on the ground.

It is hard to summarize the true expense to a company due to fear of flying. A lot of employers do not fully value the cost they are paying given that the loss is unseen.  Less-skilled employees could be hired for positions requiring air travel, and less-capable workers must be sent to out-of-town engagements and business conferences.
Fear of flying “is a colossal problem,” says Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Like other fears, it is an irrational, involuntary fear that causes a person to stay away from everyday experiences.

Public fears appear to have actually subsided since the repercussion of the September 11, 2001 terrorism attack. According to a recent USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll, 27% of US adults would be at least somewhat fearful of getting on an airplane tomorrow, including 9% who would be very afraid.  A comparable opinion poll taken in November 2001showed 43% at least somewhat afraid, including 17% who were very afraid.


Treatment options
Soar
Tom Bunn established Soar in 1982.  He is a licensed therapist and former airline captain. His business offers DVDs that enlighten fliers about airline flights and safety and recommend ways to establish emotional control by attaching a soothing emotion to each anxious thought.  A 10-DVD set costs $480, however, most people prevail over their flying phobias with a 4- DVD set that cost $195.  Tom Bunn additionally provides individual personal therapy as part of his program.
The Ross Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders
Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, provides in-person treatment activities in Washington, D.C. Up to four sessions and a round-trip flight ought to be enough to conquer most fliers’ fears, Ross says. The cost for four sessions and a therapist’s flight time is roughly $2,000, together with the price tag of airline tickets.

CTRN (Change That’s Right Now)
Seymour Segnit, a neuro-linguistic programming teacher, offers 3- CDs and a workbook for $147, or telephone remedy that costs at least $1,500. Neuro-linguistic programming – the use of self-help rituals to program the mind – has been called futile by psychologists, but Segnit says it works. CTRN aims to instruct fearful fliers to take back control of their emotions.


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