“Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.”

No matter what your pilot tells you, taking a plane trip these days is likely to be irritating, uncomfortable and, often, quite maddening.

For millions of people it’s all that and absolutely frightening.

Despite statistics that tell us flying is one of the safest modes of travel, many people will only fly if they have to. Others are so afraid of flying that they will never travel by air at all. And when someone is too afraid to fly they can end up grounding not only themselves, but their families, their vacations and their careers.

Where can fearful fliers go for help? To the airport! In my At the Airport column posted on USATODAY.com, I profile several fear of flying classes offered by airports and by airlines, including the Air France “Anti-Stress” class that includes “pretend engine-failure” in a flight simulator.

Anti-stress class, courtesy of Air France