She Always Had a Fear of Flying. Then She Fell in Love with a Pilot and It Became Her Whole Life (Exclusive) Tabitha ParentOctober 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM 0 Lauren Donnelly Lauren and Rob Donnelly.
- - She Always Had a Fear of Flying. Then She Fell in Love with a Pilot and It Became Her Whole Life (Exclusive)
Tabitha ParentOctober 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM
0
Lauren Donnelly
Lauren and Rob Donnelly. -
Lauren Donnelly has always identified herself as a nervous flier
When she met her husband Rob Donnelly, her opinion on planes suddenly began to shift, slowly but surely
Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, Lauren and Rob reveal how their lives have been impacted by Rob's job in the skies and whether flying has gotten better for Lauren since marrying him
Rob Donnelly's father flew in the military, so from a "very young age," he knew he wanted to do the same."We had moved across the globe a dozen times by the time I went to college," he explains to PEOPLE. "I spent so much time in an airport, I was like, yeah, I might as well get paid to do it. So it's kind of what I'm doing now, but it all started just following in my father's footsteps, just doing it on the civilian side."
When Rob met his now-wife Lauren, he immediately became her "person" — but not just in the romantic sense.The duo met during COVID through one of Lauren's high school friends, Jack — now also a pilot – when Lauren was visiting her friend at the University of Oklahoma.At the time, Rob was roommates with Jack, and as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, the trio was looking to keep their circle fairly small. As a result, Lauren says that the three of them hung out together because "everything was on lockdown."At the time, Rob was going through his flight training and eventually became Lauren's go-to for any flight-related questions as she worried about flying.
Lauren Donnelly
Lauren and Rob Donnelly.
"He became my person," she says. "I would always text our friend Jack if there was turbulence, 'What's going on, help me.' And when I met Rob, just because Jack was kind of annoyed with it at that point, Rob became my person."Rob also recounts a moment where he and Jack were over at Lauren's house with her and her sister, and the nervous fliers launched several questions about flying.
"Jack and I only flew the four-seat little prop plane, but we tried our best to answer their questions," Rob laughs.
Now that they're married, those questions haven't slowed down. In fact, Lauren now shares Jack's knowledge with the world.
Online, the pair has both an Instagram and a TikTok account under the handle @donnelly.travels, where Lauren makes sure to share the tips and bits of information she has learned from her husband over the years. In one viral series, Rob answers questions from nervous fliers in the comments.
Lauren Donnelly
Rob Donnelly.
"Shortly after takeoff, why does it feel and sound like the plane shuts off?" Lauren asked Rob in one of the videos."It feels like that because we reduce power, kind of let the nose [of the plane] come down, which allows us to speed up so we can pick up the flap," Rob explained. "Think of it like you're in the car and you take your foot of the gas for a little.""I feel better because he's so unbothered," one commenter wrote."HAHA he just thinks I'm Crazy 🤣," Lauren wrote back.Lauren works in marketing for a digital agency that runs social media for hotels and resorts across the country, meaning that, despite her aversion, she frequently finds herself flying. And, of course, Rob is on planes 24/7, which means their lives are entirely impacted by flying — as well as the unusual work schedule that comes along with Rob's job.According to Rob, flight schedules for pilots at his company, Republic Airways, are based on seniority. For the most part, pilots can expect to be flying and away from home anywhere from 12 to 16 days out of a month and off for the rest of the time.
@randimichelleweddings
Lauren and Rob Donnelly.
"All those other days you're at home and it sounds great, which it kind of is," Rob admits. "Sometimes it does get tough. Recently, I've had a lot of time off just because I've dropped trips [because] we've got family stuff going on and we wanted to spend more time at home since both of us have been traveling a lot recently."However, despite the flexibility, Rob says it's not always like that in practice."When I get back, I have so much stuff I have to do," he says. "I have to do all my laundry and pack again. I have to go shopping and meal prep again and get stuff done around the house, hang out with [Lauren], relax by myself for a little bit.""My suitcase never goes into the closet," Rob says. "It's just sitting in our bedroom open when I get home from trips, and then I just pack it and close it and then leave."Rob says that he generally bids for his schedule around the 11th of each month, and doesn't hear back until a few days or even a week later, so it can be hard for the couple to plan in advance."We don't even expect him to have Thanksgiving or Christmas off," Lauren says. "My family's planning with me rather than with him. And then we talk about maybe celebrating it early for him whenever he's off."Lauren has learned, in part, not to get her hopes up.
"I think for me personally, the nice thing is that, from day one, that this is what it's going to look like," she says. "So [I don't get my] hopes up."Last year was the couple's first Christmas together as a married couple, which made it particularly sad as they had to celebrate separately."Watching him sit in a hotel room alone, that's sad," Lauren recalls. And, while it's disappointing for Rob as well, he tries to keep a happy attitude for other travelers on his plane."It's a very busy travel day, believe it or not," he says. "So the least you could do is be nice to the people that you're transporting, because they're wanting to go see family for Christmas."While Lauren has learned to manage expectations when it comes to Rob's schedule, she does remember being pretty disappointed after the pair had to push their honeymoon because of Rob's schedule."It was beautiful. It was great. But yeah, our initial honeymoon, we did have to postpone just because couldn't get that much time off so early in his career," she says.From Rob, Lauren says she's learned a lot about flying that has helped ease her anxieties.
Lauren Donnelly
Lauren and Rob Donnelly.
"The lack of control is obviously never going to get better because you're just not in control," Lauren says of her flying fears. "But the lack of knowledge has definitely helped. I mean, I probably know more about airplanes than the average person."Lauren cites the training that she knows Rob had to go through to become a licensed pilot as a big help in learning to mitigate her anxieties.He's also here to debunk a common fear that many fliers have: that turbulence can bring down an airplane."It's got to be incredibly bad," he says. "And turbulence has never brought down an airplane before, so that says something."
"It's not really unsafe, it's just uncomfortable," he says.Despite the crazy schedule that the couple has to deal with, Lauren is grateful for one thing about Rob's schedule.
"I love that when he's home, he's home," she says. "He literally has nothing on his brain. I have friends who [when] their significant others come home, they just continue to work. When he comes home, he literally has nothing else to do. His attention is here."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: EVENING MAG
Full Article on Source: EVENING MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities
