I was very afraid of flying, even commercially, when I took flying lessons. I'm pretty sure there would have been no other way for me to get past the fear. At that time, I had two irrational fears. (Well, both involved things of somewhat elevated risk but my fear far exceeded their risk.) Living in paralyzing fear of flying just wasn't acceptable to me. I had to overcome the fear.
I knew that part of my fear (and the reason I could rationalize the fear) was that I wasn't able to fly and land the plane if something went wrong. I was completely dependent on the pilot. And, no matter how skilled the pilot is, things happen. Bird strikes, heart attacks, etc. I hated it when I was lowered into or hauled out of pit by others or a wench but was perfectly comfortable hanging 500 m above the ground if I was in control of my ascent and descent and had either rigged the rope or ensured it was rigged properly. So, I learned to fly. Several years later, I stumbled into an opportunity to have my other fear treated by a professional. I swear, he cured me of a life-long phobia in less than 15 minute! I then learned that psychologists consider phobias one of the easiest disorders to cure. Knowing what I know now, I would have sought out professional help for my two fears decades earlier. Irrational fear is such a quality-of-life inhibiter and, apparently, overcoming those fears with a little help is remarkably easy.