Nothing like reading about a few celebrity phobias to make a fearful flyer feel like being afraid of airplanes isn't the worst fear in the world.  Which lovely Aussie actress is afraid of other things that fly--would you believe butterflies?  She has to be in the minority with that fear, unlike fear of flying which is quite common. 

Who do you think is terrified of revolving doors?   He has a brilliant white smile but not when he's trying to get into a hotel with this kind of entrance. 

A fearless flyer recently admitted that her fear of flying was centered on being afraid to fly over water. “I’ve never flown over an ocean," she said. " In case of an emergency, where's the plane land?” I called in Capt. Ron for the pilot perspective and as always, he provided a helpful answer on why she shouldn't be afraid of flying over water: 

Knowledge is power is the message I deliver to people who have a fear of flying so I'm always searching for new information about the best way to help them cope with their fear.   I recently found a helpful article about fear and fear of flying that I'd like to share with you from Medill Reports, a publication by journalism students of Northwestern University in Chicago. 

Dr. Phil featured a woman yesterday who is virtually paralyzed by a huge list of fears and phobias.  Fear of flying is right near the top of the list--in fact, she had to FLY to be on the Dr. Phil show!  And her fear of flying almost grounded her from appearing on the show so she could get some help.

If you have a fear of flying and are looking for reasons not to fly, you should  have listened to  travel expert Peter Greenberg on the Today Show this morning. Usually I try to convince people to visit Fearless Flight.com to overcome their fear of flying.  But Greenberg's information today made me scared to fly.  

A fearful flyer sent us this comment about his fear of flying through turbulence:  "I wish that pilots would communicate more with the passengers. For example, that they would explain the turbulence and how long it will likely last. Also I often find that when they say turbulence is coming and to fasten one's seatbelt, that turbulence turns out not to be as bad as the turbulence they don't notify you of."

Our new poll "What's the Scariest Part of Flying" has been up on FearlessFlight.com for about a month.  Almost 900 people have voted.  Many more people have looked at the choices of the poll and have apparently been too afraid to even enter their opinion.   Takeoffs...ARGH.  Landings...Oh MY!  Turbulence...HOLY cow! 

I just read a California newspaper article about a certain actor who says he doesn't have a fear of flying--he just doesn't like "to be up in the air much."  Being in the fear of flying business, I immediately read between the lines and said, "Okay, he's afraid to fly."

What's the scariest part of flying for you? Courtney discovered that it was the hours leading up to her flight, not the flight itself that ruined her day. 

So how do you deal with what's going on inside you the day before your flight?  Even though Courtney left me a voice mail, it was easy to hear her anxiety and fear in her shaky voice.  She had called in the morning for a little reassurance for her flight later that evening. When I called back, she told me she was doing better but clearly she was really anxious about flying for the first time in two years.