Any fear is debilitating but a fear of flying can make your business life miserable. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners have to travel occasionally to seminars, trade shows, conferences or even an urgent meeting. When you throw air travel and fear into the mix, your anxiety level will jump through the roof.
If you do have a fear of flying, here are some things you can do to calm yourself and learn how to deal with it so you can be productive:
- Know that you are not alone. There are many people with aerophobia. After working in the air traffic industry for over 13 years, I witnessed many fearful flyers pass through the airport on guided tours. If you are informed ahead of time, it can calm some of those nerves. See if you can set up a tour at your local airport. It will be fascinating and can aleviate much of your anxiety.
- Know that you are in good hands. Here is a quick breakdown of how the air traffic system works: In a nutshell, air traffic controllers within the actual towers at the airports only control the ground movements and airspace up to five miles out from the airport. Once your plane is five miles out, you’ve been handed off to the radar controllers who control your flight for about 30 miles. Once again, you will be switched off to the center controllers. These controllers handle everything in between, including international flights over the ocean once they hit our airspace. If anything should ease your mind about air safety, it is the fact that these controllers got thousands of flights landed quickly and safely on September 11th, 2001.
- Book a non-stop flight. This will make things a little easier and you’ll only have to gear yourself up for one departure and one landing. If you need to travel a little further out of the way to get that non-stop flight, take a train, bus or car. It’s worth it.
- Take deep breaths. Travel lightly. Drink your water. No alcohol and no nylons. You can do it. Conquer your fear so that you can be more productive when you get to that business destination.
For those who need more assistance to calm their jitters, you can hire a therapist or you can check out Captain Stacey Chance’s Fear of Flying free online course. This course guides individuals through their fear of flying with the Captain’s aviation knowledge. He is not a certified therapist; however, he has won the Jefferson Awards for Public Service in 2007 for his program. Check it out!
Did I forget to share a great tip? How do you ease your nerves before flying?
Colleen, CMJ Office
CMJ Office is a certified and licensed virtual administrative business supporting business owners, bloggers, genealogy and history authors, speakers and researchers.
January 10th, 2010 at 11:49 am
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