CAPTAIN RON'S GUIDE TO FEARLESS FLYING

The pilot who calms the nerves of anxious fliers

- BY ELAINE GODFREY

On a hot Saturday evening in May, I reported to Terminal 4 of Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport. There, in a small conference room behind an unmarked door, I put on a name tag and joined 18 other nervous-looking people hoping to be cured by Captain Ron.

Captain Ron (real name Ron Nielsen) is a 78-year-old former commercial pilot who teaches a free class for nervous fliers roughly once a month. He has the wholesome look of a small-town minister: rectangular glasses, short-cropped white hair, and a whimsical tuft sticking out of each nostril. He's like the aviation equivalent of Rick Steves—the kind of guy who, after a class that goes particularly well, exclaims, “It should be against the law to have that much fun!”

A fear of flying, Captain Ron explained, is nothing to be ashamed of. “You're not broken.” The anxiety looks different for different people. Some worry mostly about external factors, such as crashes and terrorism. Others dread a panic attack—and how fellow passengers might react to it.

Sitting next to me was a retiree named Mike who had been coming to Captain Ron's class regularly to address his claustrophobia ahead of a long-anticipated flight: a two-hour trip to Reno to visit his grandson. Across the table, Stephanie and her husband, whom she'd brought along for moral support, were planning a trip to Cambodia. “Over water,” someone across the room offered. Stephanie's eyes were wide. We understood completely.