Most companies offer "anti-fear" stages. They show you what is going on during a flight, and explain to you all the safeties taken.
I heard it work in almost 80% of cases

have a look into some NLP methods..... works for alot of people.

I can mail you some books on the subject, I've got rakes of them.

I actually tried a version of timeline therapy on a guy who had a fear of flying a few months ago...... havent heard from him since.

I'd try it on you..... but then I'd have to meet you and internet people are scary sorry

plus I'm too lazy to leave my room.

you guys mean you need MACHINES to fly!!!!!???

pffffff....mortals.

yeah.... I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my father....

...not screaming in terror like his passengers

That was both funny AND appropriate.
Good one, nice to have both for a change.

lulukeke - Are you serious about watching flight crash movies? I'm NOT normally afraid of flying but I wouldn't watch those if I knew I'd be flying soon! Turn them off! Put the DVD's under the couch cushion!

I'm sure you've tried distraction things, like reading or music or some word puzzle games or something...? Here's one thing that made a fearful person feel better (ironically) - she was sitting next to me on a flight to china - she told me she was terribly afraid of flying, and she sure as heck talked a lot at first.. I was worried I'd be in for a hell flight. She was writing things in her notebook, like the EXACT time it was, where the plane was, what it was doing. Once we took off she wrote the times and altitudes... I'm not suggesting you do that - but the weird part was, she looked at her watch at one point and told me we are now safer, as almost all accidents happen within 1.5 minutes of takeoff or landing (or something like that, maybe my number is wrong). She was very quickly relieved, and most of the flight was fine for her. She had an aisle seat and walked around a lot too.

So maybe looking into some statistics could actually help, or at least confine your fear to just a few minutes of hell, then relax the rest of the time. But don't watch those movies, please!

Deep breathing... meditation.... singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the wall as you imagine the wall of your favorite bar....

Good luck.

Come over to my house and jump off my terrace

I used to do a lot of flying for work. And I mean a lot of flying - I once wracked up 100,000 miles in 8 months. You know what, fear of flying gets worse the more you do it. Sorry... that's not particularly helpful so here's a statistic that I always tried to bear in mind as I sweated my way through another 12 hour flight - in an average year more people die in donkey-related accidents than in 'plane crashes.

Another tip: On flights that have the option, I always listen to the cockpit crew through the headphones. I find that strangely soothing, guys are sooooo mellow. You might be bumping around in your seat, luggage falling out of the overhead compartments, struggling to keep your lunch down - but if you put on the headphones and tune into the cockpit the odds are that the captain and co-pilot will still be the mellowest people on the planet. Its like they have a secret stash of dope up there.

Also, watch the stewardesses [or flight staff], they're trained for it, but unless they're strapping on parachutes everything's still fine.

After you make a better smoke video
kthanksbye

This could be the answer to so many questions.

Seriously, if you want to overcome a fear, you must do it no matter how scared you are of it.

Join the Air Force and become an aircrew member.

Work hard and try to get into the astronaut program.

After that, you won't be afraid of flying, nor will you suffer from motion sickness again.

I would offer to help anyone with fear of flying and other phobias, but tomorrow I am (flying) off for 2 weeks, so I cannot do anything until I get back. Seriously though..... I really can help, but only if you want to get it sorted out.

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

The choice is yours.

Undoubtedly true but if you bash into an Audi on a crowded junction in the Jing, chances are you'll survive with a few scratches and a verbal roasting from an enraged local that will leave you in no doubt as to the meaning of 'sha bi lao wai.'

Whereas if you're in a plane you know that once it's going down 999 times out of a thousand you're destined to form part of a flaming fireball within a couple of agonising, horror-striken minutes.

I was fine with flying until watching the movie Final Destination which is a distinctly average teenage-horror movie but the air crash scene is genuinly scary, the way the unfortunate victims faces burn off just before a couple of blonde lovelies get sucked out of the windows by the air pressure is a nice touch too, just in case you were in any doubt that dying in a plane crash, whilst not quite at the burnt at a stake levels, still ranks pretty high as a crappy, terrifing way to leave this world.

Anyway on the bright side at least it's the 21st century with advanced aviation technology to match, my dad always claims to be grateful for surviving flying around South America in the 60's, on one particulary turbulent journey he recalled turning to the air hostesses for reassurance only to see them silently praying in the plane's corner!

my honest suggestion:

1) print out your dining choices thread and bring them with you on the plane

2) read them slowly during takeoff, landing, or amid air turbulence

3) close your eyes and genuinely picture the food in your head... the smell... the taste... and the texture inside your mouth... preoccupy and flood your mind with all the sensory information...

remember, nobody can block out the the rattling overhead compartments nor the loud combustion of the engines during takeoff... but you can definitely screen out horrific images of September 11th that have been ingrained in all of us... these subconscious thoughts are the root causes of panic attacks during flight...

4) if you're bothered by the passenger beside you, pretend your favorite idol/person is dining with you, sitting beside you, window or aisle... but you can't look at him/her... if you do, your idol would disappear from your magical meal on the flying carpet... of course you wouldn't want that to happen since you're planning on getting him drunk and taking him back home afterwards

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I also think most people not afraid of die but more of being afraid that if they die, who will be there to take their family. So get a good life insurance and you feel much more relief when you have to fly.

That said, if you have to go, you have to go. If my boss would told me that I have to be in Beijing tomorrow, I will be on a plane tomorrow. Now, I would try to avoid Russian Airline or some airlines from the very under-develop countries. Their records are not that impressed. Then, I fly Vietnam Airline before and will be flying on their plane next few weeks.