Anxious About Flying? This Veteran Pilot Offers One-On-One Consultations To Calm Your Nerves

If you suffer from aviophobia or aerophobia (commonly known as a fear of flying), getting on a plane is likely your worst nightmare realized. The thought of being trapped in a shaky, noisy metal tube thousands of feet above the ground probably churns your stomach. However, know that you're not alone: Roughly one in five people experience fear of flying. Fortunately, there are many viable options for combating this phobia. Apps like Flying Calmly, which provide turbulence forecasting, are a game-changer for nervous flyers. There are also workshops that employ flight simulators to get participants comfortable with the feeling of being in the air. And you can even book an appointment with a licensed psychologist or therapist to manage your anxiety and hear what an expert recommends to feel safe in the air. But there's another novel way to address your aviophobia that doesn't involve jumping into a terrifying simulator: A one-on-one consultation with a veteran pilot.

Enter Patrick Smith, commercial pilot as of 1990, blogger, and author of two books, "Cockpit Confidential" and "Ask the Pilot." He speaks and writes regularly on a wide variety of aviation-related topics, including international travel, airline culture, airport security, and aerophobia. For a decade, he ran a column on Salon.com called "Ask the Pilot," which evolved into his personal website of the same name. And now he is once again introducing his telephone consultations, where he aims to calm the nerves of aviophobic flyers through arming them with information on how safe and reliable airplanes actually are.

For this story, Islands scoured social media platforms like Reddit and read reviews of Smith's best-selling books about air travel on sites like Amazon, Goodreads, and more. Smith's knowledge and insights are highly rated and praised by most reviewers, and he comes recommended for anxious flyers.

As per his website, Smith offers three different packages. A one-off, 60-minute consultation costs $100. Two consultations, with no time limit, are priced at $300 and include a signed copy of his 2013 book, "Cockpit Confidential." Finally, if you believe that you have a high amount of anxiety to work through, there's a third option: A one-year subscription with unlimited consultations and no time limit (along with the aforementioned signed book). This will run you $1,000. All packages come with a money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied with the results. And they occur at times that are mutually agreed upon and convenient for both parties, taking place over the phone. So you can choose to call from the comfort of your home or mid-panic attack at the airport, right before boarding. Either way, Smith will be there to listen to your concerns, dispense advice based on his wide knowledge of all things air travel, and assuage your greatest fears about flying. Sessions can be booked by emailing him at patricksmith@askthepilot.com. 

If you're not quite ready to book a consultation, you can always just peruse his website, which is a veritable treasure trove of aviation-related resources. His articles debunk conspiracy theories and myths about flying and share behind-the-scenes information about the commercial aviation industry. His colorful posts include such topics as "Why Does Flying Suck?" "At Long Last, TSA Ditches the Shoe Rule," and "When a Wing Comes Apart." Feel free to ask him any of your burning questions directly through the contact page of his website. Whether you want to know what happens when a pilot refuses to fly a plane or why TSA pulled you aside for additional screening, Smith is there to provide the answers with humor and empathy.