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Learning to fly the fearless skies
Denver-based airline offers help to those with flight phobia
By Michael Godfrey
mgodfre3@mscd.edu

Illustration by Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu

Metro students with a fear of flying have a new way to overcome their fear of the skies as the Colorado Ninety-Nines host a “Flight without Fear” course.

Frontier Airlines and the Colorado Chapter of the Ninety-Nines, which is a part of the International Organization of Women Pilots, are hosting the class in an effort to help people who want or need to fly but are afraid.

“This class has been life-changing for many of our clients. Being afraid of flying has hampered many people with their jobs,” said Metro student Bonita Ades, the instructor for the course. “I even had one student who went on to get her pilot’s license after the class.”

Students involved in the eight-week course will study weather, safety and air-crew training and even tour air-traffic control facilities and aircraft maintenance facilities for Frontier Airlines. The students complete the course with a graduation flight aboard a Frontier Airlines flight to Salt Lake City, encompassing all the techniques the students learned from the course.

“One out of every six adult Americans is afraid of flying,” said psychologist Dr. Reid Wilson of the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Program of Durham, N. C. “A very small percentage seek out help for their fears.”

People’s fear of flight can result from several different factors, added Dr. Wilson, including a past bad flight due to turbulence or an emergency during the flight. Many people are often afraid because they simply do not understand what to expect during a flight.

“Sometimes a person will pass a fear on to their children,” Ades said. “ This is sad, but when you create a new flier, you create a whole family of fliers.”

Classes begin Feb. 6 at the Frontier Airlines General Office and the cost for the seminar is $385, which includes the round-trip airfare for the graduation flight. Students interested in the course can contact Bonita Ades at Bonitaflys@aol.com.