For some, a fear of flying is a serious thing and can affect how they travel or if they travel. easyJet is to relaunch its Fearless Flyer courses.
easyJet Airbus A319 climbing out of Manchester Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The course, which has helped more than 9,000 people to date, starts at £69 per person. The course features a brand-new virtual element of the programme, easyJet’s Fearless Flyer course is divided into three main parts:
- A virtual ground course, where top phobia expert Lawrence Leyton and a senior easyJet captain will explain the unfamiliar sounds and sensations customers feel onboard an aircraft and teach them a unique set of mind techniques to manage their nerves.
- A pre-flight one hour ‘Meet the Team’ online Zoom session, where participants will be walked through the airport experience and what to expect. There will also be a participant Q&A session where phobia expert Lawrence and an easyJet pilot will answer any last-minute questions.
- And lastly, a special one-hour experience flight from the course airport, where customers put their new skills to the test whilst listening to a live commentary of the flight from the Fearless Flyer team.
You can take the courses online and take the experience flight at airports across the UK, including London Gatwick, London Luton, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Belfast International airports.
For those passengers on the course who wish for a more premium treatment, there are new courses which in addition to the standard course include additional exclusive benefits including a dedicated Captain to guide you through the experience flight day, a private group Zoom call with a pilot and the Fearless Flyer Team, premium VIP check-in, security and boarding process for the experience flight, guaranteed upfront seating and lifetime access to additional course materials.
A limited number of spaces on the courses are now available at fearlessflyer.easyjet.com
The in the air experiences are operating on the following dates:
| Airport | Date |
| London Gatwick | Sunday 15th May |
| London Luton | Saturday 18th June |
| Bristol | Sunday 22nd May |
| Manchester | Saturday 7th May |
| Edinburgh | Friday 27th May |
| Belfast | Wednesday 8th June |
In Quotes
Captain Chris Foster, Fearless Flyer Lead Pilot at easyJet, said:
“We’re delighted to be relaunching our renowned Fearless Flyer course for 2022, with courses now available to book across the UK.
The course is suitable for anyone who is a nervous flyer, whether they experience slight anxiety or whether they have never flown before and with a success rate of more than 95%, we would encourage anyone wishing to overcome their fear to take part.”
Mark Wein, easyJet’s Fearless Flyer Course Director, commented:
“Around one in six people have a fear of flying, stopping many from travelling abroad on holiday, visiting friends and family or even flying for work – and with international travel returning to normal after so long, now is a great opportunity to join so many who have already overcome their fears through our renowned Fearless Flyer course. We’re excited to help many more customers on our courses over the coming months – the results are life-changing.”
Jessica Matthews, who took part in the course, said:
“Booking the Fearless Flyer course was the best decision I ever made. It was the first time I been on an airplane by myself and I found the whole experience exhilarating. I would recommend this course for anyone who hates flying (like I did) or has a particular fear. Fear is a belief! You can get over it.”
Opening up the experience of flight
For a lot of us who grew up travelling, or have spent hours in a metal tube, we all have our own coping mechanisms for flying (be it take off, cruise, bumpy skies and landing) that we have to handle (or giggles depending on the situation).
For some people, this is a totally alien environment where they have minimal to no control of the situation, with every creak or noise being different to them.
Courses like this help people acclimatise to the process of flying, the sounds as well as the experience of the airport and the stresses it can cause – and it is welcoming to see that easyJet is running these updated courses to show people that fear of air travel can be managed.
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“In a related development, Ryanair has announced a series of “Holy Crap!” courses designed to prepare flyers who are already comfortable with flying in general with the Ryanair experience, to toughen them up before they get to the airport for their first Ryanair flight. Former SAS trainers will ‘guide’ them through the booking process, boarding, and flight experience, complete with yelling, simulated fellow passengers carrying their belongings in Tesco carrier bags, and surly flight attendants trying to sell you things the whole flight..”
(Actually, I’ve always wanted to fly Ryanair to see if it lives up to its reputation. They must be doing something right, no? I’ve flown Spirit here in the States and other than the 29″ seat pitch and the laughably small tray tables on the older planes – about the size of a large mobile phone-* my experience was fine. I had problems with both the bag tag machine and the OLCI and employees at the airport sorted me out cheerfully, quickly, and for free.)
Like most LCC’s / ULCC’s (what an awful term), it’s a matter of “playing by the rules they set”. That goes for Wizz, Spirit, Ryanair, easyJet… or any airlines these days.
I haven’t flown them very recently, but even then, it’s simple:
– Check you meet the rules
– Buy whatever upsells you need
– Moan
– Get on the flying bus.
– Get in the 30″/29″ seat
– Listen to the sale speil
– Get off at the other end.
Ryanair is fine for most things.
A preferred way of travel? Dear deity no. But an acceptable way of travel? Just about.
That’s what I thought. I suspect a lot of it is just left over from a decade-plus ago, back when they’d advertise (as the hilarious song goes) “flights for 50p” and their route map was wonderfully unclear on the fact that “Frankfurt” was actually “Hahn” and 65 miles away from FRA itself. (Much in the same way Walmart bags are sometimes still called “Southwest carry-ons” by hack comedians here.)
I think the “unbundling” of fares on the network carriers has gotten people used to having to do their homework on an all-in price before buying, and that, along with a light sprinkling of regulation, has led to people at least knowing what to expect and planning and/or drinking to numb themselves accordingly.
(Although, praise the Lords of Kobol, on domestic flights here in the States we don’t have a lot of onboard selling other than food and drink. even the credit card promos are rare these days.) But our “ULCC”s aren’t as “U” as their European counterparts.