If you have a fear of flying, a group of pilots have started a cool service to help calm your fears. “Dial a Pilot” is a new service launched this year that allows anxious and fearful passengers to chat with a pilot about their concerns.
Kyle, a pilot, and several other pilots offered the service, which includes a 15-minute call that explains everything that happens from takeoff to landing to some of their friends. But then it expanded to more people, and along came “Dial A Pilot.”
Kyle told Travel & Leisure that his sister-in-law would always call him before her flights. “We would talk about the turbulence. We talked about airplanes and the best times of day to fly. We talked about what the noises were,” he added.
He talked about those calls with another pilot who told him he wasn’t alone.
“It hit me that there’s a lot of people that are, one, afraid of flying, and [they] just don’t quite understand it,” Kyle said. “And there’s a lot of people on the other side of that. The pilots that understand it well love talking to the passengers and would be happy to make themselves available.”
For those interested in the service, visit dialapilot.com, where you can schedule a 15-minute call with a pilot for $50.
Kyle says the most common questions he gets are about turbulence and what would happen if the engine failed.
“Turbulence is certainly the number one, and it comes down to a lack of understanding of why the turbulence is happening and what’s causing it,” he says.
As for if an engine fails, well, there are several systems to help ensure the plane can safely continue on its journey, Kyle added.
