I always do my best thinking at either 6 o’clock in the morning or on Horseback! On this occasion I had had a very busy week and had seen two very different cases both with a genuine Fear of Flying. One was a 14 year old girl and the other a lady in her thirties, who had not had a great deal of luck in the past few years. Both people completed the Course not only feeling confident about flying, but also felt they could look at life with a much more positive approach.

So back to 6 o’clock in the morning and my active mind was wondering why the last two cases had me think so much and then came “The Lightbulb Moment!” Not only had I managed to achieve these very special people to be able to fly again but also somehow it had managed to change their lives.

I have said before that as a Centre we are extremely proud of the way we do our Course. Courses advertised by other companies put hundreds of frightened and nervous passengers in a room together and then force them onto an aircraft with half the people crying, shouting or screaming which just doesn’t work. There are also other courses popping up trying to copy our use of the simulator. 

I’ve received numerous emails from ‘happy fliers’ who have been on our Course which started me thinking about other people who had transformed their lives. One lady who had successfully flown to Florida, that was great in itself, then told me on holiday she had managed to go on a scary funfair type ride. This was the first time in her life she had tried something like this and there were lots more comments that said similar things.

When we talk to people about the Course we always describe the first hour as very different to other Fear of Flying Courses as our mantra is “It’s not about the flying, it’s about you.”

To help overcome their Fear of Flying, the first hour involves talking openly about their background history and why they have a Fear of Flying. This can be sometimes emotional but helps towards giving a better understanding of why and where their fear comes from. Two councillors who came to see us about their own fear of flying commented on how good the Course is and never to have any structured training as they felt it would spoil the natural way the Course approaches problems.

That Light Bulb Moment again, I listen and give people the opportunity to solve their fear themselves by just letting all their thoughts come out. We give the person a very special tool called knowledge to help themselves. THAT’S IT the light bulb!!!

The 14 year old has now done her first ever flight to go on holiday and sent me a beaming picture of herself standing outside her Easyjet aircraft on the tarmac. She achieved it all by herself with just a little help from me.