Lovefly® Blog - A day in the life of an airline pilot

We really liked this article around the day in the life of a pilot.   There are some lovely snippets around the commitment it takes to become one plus, the sacrifices you have to make to maintain the career.  Not for the faint hearted.  The article is called View from the sky - a day in the life of an airline pilot.  John Toolsee a pilot with Caribbean Airlines.

The bit that stood out was this phrase

What advice would you give to passengers who fear of flying?

"I think being in the sky, you’re so safe. I think air transport is a very safe means of transport. There are contingencies for almost every single aspect of the aircraft from an engineering perspective. So, let’s just say you have one fuel pump in a car, a plane might have four. If something goes wrong with one system, there is always a back-up system and a standby system. A lot of contingencies.

Additionally, pilots are very well trained. From flight school, they focus on all the necessary areas and at Caribbean Airlines, the training department does a very good job. Every six months we undergo something called Sim (Simulator), where we do different emergency procedures. Almost every and anything is covered, be it engine failure, two engine failure … we are trained to handle all emergencies."

All commercial airlines work to similar standards.  

Here is the rest of the article

Take care

Lovefly Team

Lovefly® Blog - Woman who tried to open door of plane during Jet2 flight from Stansted jailed for two years

This story emerged recently in the UK of Chloe Haines fighting the crew and trying to open the door in-flight.

This would have been a very scary moment for the passengers on this flight.  As a result of this, the judge has decided that she be jailed for two years for endangering a flight.

An except from the article:

"Prosecutor Michael Crimp said Haines claimed she "blacked out and didn't really remember what happened" after mixing alcohol with medication.

He said she had "lunged" at a door handle on the plane, which had 206 people on board.

One passenger later told police he "really feared she would open the door" and "honestly thought I was going to die", Mr Crimp said.

Haines said "I want to die" and "I'm going to kill you all" as cabin crew and passengers restrained her.

"She was kicking and punching," Mr Crimp said."

Chloe Haines Jailed for two years

Here is the full article

There are a couple of reassuring messages we would like to share for those of you with a fear of flying.

The door cannot be opened mid flight as it is pressurized*. This means that there is so much pressure on the door, it would be impossible for the strongest person to open that door.  The door is not pressurized on the ground which is why there are always crew manning the door when it can be opened.  The doors are made in such a way in that they are bigger than the hole they go into. They are 'plug' type doors which means that when pressurized, they are locked into position. 
The crew are trained to restrain passengers when necessary.  The crew could have just let Chloe pull on the door and it would not have opened. However, crew would never do that and would have restrained her.  This is important for many reasons. One of those is that most passengers don't know the door can't be opened and so would experience huge anxiety watching her pulling at it.


It is a shame that if Chloe did this due to a fear of flying...  However, it is quite right that the incident is dealt with strongly by the authorities. 







Take care,

Lovefly® Team




* Pressurisation basically means that the aircraft is filled with more air molecules than outside.  This enables us to breath at heights where we could not naturally. 

Lovefly® Blog - Valentines day fear of flying course offer

We are running a fear of flying course in just over a month, there are 10 spaces available...Here is our offer.

Our Lovefly® Runway course held at Redhill Aerodrome on 21st March 2020.  A full day which includes:

• Interactive talks with Virgin Atlantic Captain Steve Bull, Head of Training, 787 Fleet
• Psychological help from Paul Tizzard, Former Co-Founder of Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear course which he ran for over 20 years. 
• Psychological input from Susan Mungeam, Psychotherapist with over 20 years experience helping people suffering with a broad range of anxiety disorders, including phobias, and depression.
• Lunch and refreshments throughout the day
• Free parking
• A chance to get rid of your fears...

All of this is £75 for a limited time only.  After that, the price goes back up to £120 which we think is still very good value.

To book, please visit www.lovefly.co.uk  

See you there...

Susan,Paul and Steve
Lovefly® Team

Lovefly® Blog - Storm Ciara helps plane beat transatlantic flight record

Commercial Aviation loves wind.  We love the wind because it gives us extra ooomph for free.  Fly with it and you get the results that are over the news today:

"Experts are hailing a British Airways flight as the fastest subsonic New York to London journey.  The Boeing 747-436 reached speeds of 825 mph (1,327 km/h) as it rode a jet stream accelerated by Storm Ciara.

The four hours and 56 minutes flight arrived at Heathrow Airport 80 minutes ahead of schedule on Sunday morning.  According to Flightradar24, an online flight tracking service, it beat a previous five hours 13 minutes record held by Norwegian..."

If you have a fear of flying will have these sort of questions:

Q. How is this possible?

Q. Is it safe?

It is possible because there are thick 'rivers of air' that are pulled around the planet.  It is  clever stuff and too long to explain for this blog.  Suffice as to say, they are up there and flight planners know about them.  We actually plan our routes across the planet to get in these jet streams - that is how your flight times can vary going the same route.

Yes, it is safe.  The jet streams, as they have been nicknamed, are just moving air.  The 'turbulent' bit potentially can be when we cross from normal moving air into faster moving air. Some of our pilot speakers describe it like two rivers or streams of water that are moving at different speeds, joining into one river.  This causes a bit of disturbed water and that we call turbulence.  

As you know from previous blogs, turbulence is not dangerous to you as long as you have your seat belt on.  Also, the aircraft are so much stronger than they need to be so flying faster due to 'free thrust' from a jet stream is perfectly safe.  

Link here for the BBC news article and here for CNN article

If you like the article, please feel free to share.

Take care,

Lovefly® Team

Lovefly® Blog - Stalin had a fear of flying

Saw this story in BBC World News talking about Stalin having a fear of flying... didn't know that!

Turns out that fear of flying is not a new thing then.  

Here is some of the article: 
'In February 1945, three men met in a holiday resort to decide the fate of the world.

Nazi Germany was on its knees. Soviet troops were closing in on Berlin, while Allied forces had crossed Germany's western border. In the Pacific, US troops were steadily but bloodily advancing towards Japan.

As their armies poised for victory, the so-called Big Three - US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin - agreed to meet in Yalta, a Soviet resort on the Black Sea.

At the end of the bloodiest conflict the world had ever known, 75 years ago, the Allies wanted to stop such devastation from ever happening again...Although Roosevelt wanted to meet somewhere in the Mediterranean, Stalin - who had a fear of flying - instead offered up Yalta...'


Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin

Back in 1945, flying was not that safe.  When the safety back then is compared to now, there is simply no comparison. The safety procedures and back up systems we have now are truly staggering. There is so much more in place now to keep you safe - you would be amazed and reassured.

Here is the full story here

Take care,
Lovefly® Team

Lovefly® Blog - You don't have to fly

Not everyone wants to fly...

This article we saw in The Guardian about taking the perfect holiday without flying.  It is true, you do not need to fly to get to some amazing places.  A lot of people are choosing not to fly for a variety of reasons.  Here are two of them:  1.  Reduce the carbon footprint.  2.  Scared of flying.

Reason 1 we understand.  However, don't give up on the airlines. In commercial aviation, we are working really hard on getting carbon footprints right down.

Reason 2 we also understand. However, don't give up on yourself. You were not born with a fear of flying and therefore you can always learn something new.   Not being able to fly limits your choices. Sure, you can get anywhere you need overground, sea or rail which is absolutely your choice - providing it is you that has chosen and not your fear making the choice for you?

Reason 2 can be helped by people like us.

Take care
The Lovefly® Team

Future fear of flying courses
Lovefly® Runway Courses
Surrey, UK  21st March 2020 is next course with limited spaces.