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?

Paying Bills For Frills

June 18, 2008 Flying Hell Blog

Airlines continue to raise fees for services. Many are now charging for excess baggage, meals, curbside baggage checks, and better seats. Unfortunately this is a trend that is likely to continue as the airlines struggle to stay in business. Below is a Mad TV spoof about the topic:

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Shanghai Shuffle

June 17, 2008 Luggage Stories

My first trip to Shanghai was in December 2006-January 2007 and lasted two weeks. I flew on AA to and from my town to Dallas and to and from Dallas to San Francisco, then took UA to and from Shanghai. This will become relevant soon. When I got to my local airport at some wee [...]

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Photographer’s Phantasmagorical Flight

June 6, 2008 Odds & Ends Stories

On July 1, 2007, I was on American Airlines flight 2200 from Seattle-Tacoma to Dallas/Fort Worth on a Boeing 757. As we boarded the flight, I looked forward to taking some good pictures. My sister and mom decided to switch with me and my dad, which would prove consequential. I objected, but all three disagreed, [...]

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Refusal To Board

June 6, 2008 Airport Stories

Monday, June 23, 2008, O’Hare, American Airlines: The gate agent asked to check my boarding pass, then told me that she was not allowing me to board the plane and that she had the authority to do so because I had booked my flight June 22 ($847) the day before. The gate agent said she [...]

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Inconsiderate Fools

June 5, 2008 Seat Stories

I was on a flight with my boyfriend from Las Vegas to Austin. We were sitting in front of an exit isle and could not recline our seats back at all. The passenger in front of me was a male. He reclined his seat all the way back. I asked him if he could please [...]

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Scare Line Lament

June 5, 2008 Odds & Ends Stories

We just flew from Anchorage to Atlanta to Savannah via Delta Scare Lines. We had to sit on the floor of the terminal in Anchorage because there were not enough seats. I saw about 50 people on the floor. It was also hot in the terminal. (yes Delta that is your fault). We flew 6 [...]

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Sprained And Drained

May 30, 2008 Illness/Medical Stories

I am currently sitting in the Atlanta Airport. It is 6:52 am. Yesterday at 4:30 am I left my house near Boston to travel to Minneapolis. Walking out of my house I sprained my ankle. Needless to say I was a bit late getting to the airport. After hobbling to the airport from the Economy [...]

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Squeezed In The Middle

May 27, 2008 Portly Stories

I was on an eight hour plane ride with a group from school. Our teachers had told us that one or two people wouldn’t be seated with the rest of the group, and of course me and my friend got to be those lucky two. Our seats were the middle two in a row of [...]

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Early Flight Episodes

May 20, 2008 Passenger Stories

The first Southwest flight to Ontario, a weekday morning, was at 6 AM. Sitting in the bulkhead was a man, a woman and a young child. Just prior to the cabin door closing, the man and woman stood up, spread out a rug, kneeled down and prayed. The airline attendants were pleading with them to [...]

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Thirty Thousand Feet

May 18, 2008 Flying Hell Blog

  Thirty Thousand Feet is a directory consisting of  thousands of links to everything related to aviation (caution: you can easily spend hours on this ultimate portal to aviation content!). The website’s owner, Max Flight, also operates two blogs – Thirty Thousand Feet Blog and Travel Security. See his posted TSA Gangsta Rap video – [...]

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Limited Overhead Bin Space

May 18, 2008 Flying Hell Blog

With airlines starting to charge fees for checked baggage, demands for limited overhead bin space will surely increase. Let’s hope that as people try to cram things in, what’s shown on the video below won’t occur!

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Living At The Terminal

May 17, 2008 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Three months ago my boyfriend’s brother…call him “Tom,” calls us to say he is coming to visit for 3 days. My boyfriend….call him “Jerry,” hasn’t seen his brother in 3 years so we are very excited. He gets a flight from Philly PA to Dubuque IA with a layover in Chicago. He leaves Philly at [...]

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