Flying Fear and Your Career

Just over two months ago, Jodi Smith boarded a flight in Atlanta en route to a mandatory business conference in Dallas. That event marked the beginning of the end of her job. Accepting a new promotion that included more travel was more than she could handle. The apprehension associated with flying was too stressful so she resigned.

The looming airplane trip panicked Kim Mckee. She missed a very critical seminar due to her severe fear. Instead of flying she rented a car and drove to the event, but arrived much too late. The import business executives were not happy. It simply got worse from there and she left.

Fear of flying restricts - or at least burdens - the jobs of millions of Americans. Also acknowledged as aviaphobia, it causes many employees to pass up promotions or fail to go to out-of-town meetings, training events or sales calls. It can reduce productivity and strain relationships with employers. In some situations, it confines careers by pigeonholing people in career paths that they're not well-matched for however that will keep them confidently on the ground.

It is difficult to capture the correct cost to a corporation due to fear of flying. A lot of employers do not entirely understand the expense they are paying since the loss is hidden. Less-qualified employees may be hired for positions requiring air travel, and less-talented workers must be sent to out-of-town meetings and business seminars.

Fear of flying "is a huge challenge," 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 keep away from daily situations.

According to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Interview, 27% of U.S. adults would be at least somewhat fearful of getting on an airplane tomorrow, including 9% who would be "very afraid." Public phobias seem to have subsided since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorism. A similar opinion poll taken in November 2001 showed 43% at least somewhat afraid, including 17% who were "very afraid."

Treatment options
Soar
Tom Bunn founded Soar in 1982. He is a licensed therapist and former airline captain. His business offers DVDs that tell 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 fears with a four DVD series that cost $195. Tom Bunn additionally provides individual personal therapy as part of his program.

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

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 adequate to conquer most fliers' phobias, Ross says. The price for four sessions and a therapist's flight time is about $2,000, together with the charge of airline tickets.