DUBAI // A hug from a 65-year-old who took her first flight was an emotional moment for Steve Allright.
Her 40-minute journey around London after a Flying with Confidence course conducted by the BA pilot meant she was no longer cut off from her family.
“When she got off the flight, she gave me this great big hug and said” ‘This is the best day of my life. I have children and grandchildren all over the world and I couldn’t visit them up until this day and now I can.’ We all had a few tears,” said Capt Allright, who has been involved in helping people face their fear of flying for more than two decades.
He said phobias were like bullies who must be looked in the eye. Capt Allright said reading about aeroplane accidents fuelled fear.
One of his pupils was an avid follower of crash investigation reports.
“It’s common for people to feed their fear, to justify their phobia by looking for real-life examples and that then skews the mind because it becomes very biased towards what actually is unlikely to happen,” he said.
“The way we resolved that is we talk about it like a playground bully that needs to be stood up to by using the rational techniques taught on the course.”
One person was afraid to get on a plane because she feared being eaten by sharks if the aircraft crashed.
The sound of aeroplane engines can make others so nervous they would avoid driving past airports.
Fear of flying extends across age groups and nationalities.
A child of five years was the youngest person Capt Allright has helped, while the oldest was in his 90s.
Young parents are a vulnerable group.
“It is a completely indiscriminate fear, there have been people of all ages, all sexes, different countries, religions,” he said.
“Sometimes it could be ladies who before they had children didn’t mind flying at all. Then, suddenly, after they had children they become more aware of their own mortality and the fact that there is a young person relying on them.
“This is true for young fathers and young mothers.”
He encouraged people to embrace the freedom flying provided and he urged them to adopt the right mindset.
“They come on the course because they want to get better. I make a contract at the start with people and ask if they want to change their attitude towards flying,” said Capt Allright, who has more than 12,500 flying hours under his belt, and trains and assesses other pilots.
“I want to share a little bit of my passion for flying with people and that is extremely rewarding.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae