It's difficult to say, these things seem to get a bit wooly sometimes. When you start to label things as "phobia" (an irrational fear of something), you then start medicalising a problem, which I suspect, would have implications for a pilots career.
I guess what he's describing is anxiety. I suspect most pilots suffer from this to some degree from time to time. In fact, if any were to deny this, I'd worry slightly.
Anxiety is a normal symptom, and I guess having some degree of worry, flying around Winter Hill in something that resembles the inside of my dads Anglia van, is not actually irrational. I guess this can be extrapolated to the big boys.
I guess the test as to whether or not this is a problem, is when the physical symptoms of anxiety, (they can be so severe they can mimic a heart attack sometimes), affect the safety of your flying.