Flights From Hell flies you into the crazy skies with stories about the adventures and anxieties of airplane travel.

Commercial airline travel takes us far, far out of our comfort zone. We're herded into cylinders that zip hundreds of miles per hour at 30,000 feet, subjected to security screenings, confronted with delays and lost luggage, rushed to catch connecting flights, constrained to small seats, scrunched up with strangers, and surrounded by pathogens. Is it any wonder we end up becoming a bundle of raw nerves by journey's end?

Tired Passengers Confronted with Tyre Change

May 27, 2011 Airplane Stories

This occurrence happened in 2005 when I was 15 and going on a round-the-world trip with my dad. We had landed at Heathrow after a 14 hour flight from Tokyo and had to change planes to fly to Paris. So we get onto a small BA Airbus without much trouble. Then as we are about [...]

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Miss Psychotic

May 3, 2011 Passenger Stories

Well I could have guessed people of a less stable mind would have to travel too. Last September I finally witnessed this. It all happened on a nice late September day flying on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Düsseldorf, a 6 or 7 hour flight. Thank God it was on a day time flight. [...]

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Suggestions for Improving Air Travel

April 29, 2011 Flying Hell Commentary

Dear Flyers: As known today, the flying public’s decency and manners has plummeted. This is this case for nearly all ages and genders. Babies who cry and scream, seniors who think they own the place by bossing younger generations around such as having them lift their suitcases and ignoring others or causing discomfort, to kids [...]

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Nervous About Nosedives

April 22, 2011 Weather Stories

I always knew that international flights, especially ones going across the Pacific ocean, were a little bumpy. I was never afraid of flying when I was a kid, I loved every aspect of it. And I don’t remember ever being afraid or even noticing turbulence. A few years ago, I suddenly became TERRIFIED of flying. [...]

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Upset About USA Security

April 3, 2011 Airport Stories

I fly from Norway to USA once or twice a year. Usually I use SAS, from Bergen to Kastrup, Copenhagen, then from Kastrup, Copenhagen to Dulles Washington. This usually goes smoothly; check in Bergen and going all the way through to Dulles Washington, just interrupted by showing my passport at Kastrup. Then just go straight [...]

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Harried Traveler Stressed about Lost Luggage

March 31, 2011 Luggage Stories

Not quite a full-on “from hell” story, but almost: I was flying from Syracuse, NY to St. Louis this past Christmas on United, with a connection in O’Hare. As you may be aware, Syracuse has snowy winters, but things weren’t too terribly bad on Dec. 23rd when I flew. I got to the airport on [...]

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Passenger Defies FA’s Directive

March 28, 2011 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I was on a U.S. Dareways flight from Tucson to Atlanta last month (about a 3 hour flight) that was, for once, not full. I was in Group 4, so I boarded the plane nearly last, but there was plenty of overhead space and no issues with stowing carry-ons. As I approached my seat, I [...]

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Pickle Breath and Senior Sally

March 25, 2011 Senior Stories

A16. I love that number. As anyone who flies Southwest knows, that’s a magical number. That number means you can sit just about anywhere you want. On this particular flight from Denver to Ont., California, I chose to sit in the aisle seat of the bulkhead. People streamed past me to further aisles. On the [...]

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Questions for Delta

March 24, 2011 Flying Hell Commentary

Hello Delta Customer Service, I would like you to please help me answer a question. I am trying to figure out the following: Why would I ever fly Delta Airlines again? I had a non-direct flight that required me to switch terminals in the PHX airport in order to board a Delta flight. As soon [...]

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Self-Important Commuter

March 17, 2011 Passenger Stories

This might not have been a flight from hell for the passengers, but it sure was for the service reps who had the misfortune of being on the service desk this inconvenient morning. I do a weekly cattle haul to Toronto out of Newark Airport and have been doing it for some time with a [...]

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Stewing in Germ Filled Slime

March 15, 2011 Illness/Medical Stories

OK, just got back from a week away. On my final flight home (a little prop job) I encountered a family that was a bit disturbing. It started at the gate waiting for my connecting flight. A family of 7 entered the gate area (grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, 4 year old, 18 month old, infant) [...]

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Boozed-Up Passenger with Nasal Problems

March 12, 2011 Passenger Stories

To get from Munich to Bangkok – choosing the cheapest option – you have to make a stop. Ours was in Dubai. Anyone who stops in Dubai Airport and is one of the few people who are still smoking: It is hell! There are two Smoker Rooms – both packed with people every minute of [...]

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