As a freshman in college a few years ago, I became extremely homesick within the first two days. I wanted to go home, but my mom promised me that if I stayed a while to give it a chance, she would visit me the following month. We booked flights for her that night. So mid-September […]
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My wife, 10 month old daughter and I boarded a flight that was to take us from Seattle non stop to Dallas in the fall. The approximately 2 1/2 – 3 hour flight left the ground at about 2 pm and we were on our way without any problems. Just before we got to Dallas […]
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My Hell Story has nothing to go with waiting in line or screaming babies. Actually, my Hell Story is a 2-part story of near death experiences – on my arrival AND return flights. The first flight was a very short flight on a 747 from NYC to Boston. It was a 10pm flight and they […]
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I was “lucky” enough to be on a NWA flight from Mpls, MN, that took off for Sioux Falls, SD, in spite of the fact that the flight had been delayed due to storms and despite the fact that there were some 57 tornados in and around Sioux Falls that night! As we were coming […]
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On November 27, 2007, I was on Delta flight 1760 from Salt Lake to Orange County. The flight was boarding, and despite it being below freezing outside, the cabin temperature was in the high 80s. After sweating for several minutes following the scheduled departure, the captain came on and said the auxiliary power unit (or […]
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Anymore, I think the “Flights From Hell” have more to do with fellow passengers than the airlines themselves. As a former airline employee of the big UA, I have endured years of complaints about service, delays, food, etc. The funny part, passengers want first-class service and smiling employees, but they want to pay bus-fare for […]
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A few years ago, I was flying as an unaccompanied minor. To ensure that the flight attendants know that you’re unaccompanied, the usual song-and-dance was that they would give you a red and white 3″ badge to pin on your shirt, and they would write on it with a black magic marker. This time, however, […]
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While flying from Frankfurt to Philadelphia, my family and I encountered a very disgruntled flight attendant. My husband and I, being seasoned travelers in our pre-baby lives, had traveled to Europe to visit family with our son who was just shy of 2. Knowing the headaches of traveling with young children, we had obtained 3 […]
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United Red Carpet Club, SFO: I recently flew to London from San Francisco. My travel companion has membership in the United Red Carpet Club. He asked that I meet him at the club before the flight. Now, please understand, I’m REALLY polite and mild-mannered; it’s often pointed out to me that I’m “too nice.” I […]
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In August of 2001, my mom, younger sister & I flew from our home in D.C. to Phoenix, Arizona for my older sister’s wedding. At the time it was cheaper to use BWI than National and we didn’t live within sight of Dulles until a few years later. Because we had booked a flight earlier […]
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I was flying from London to San Francisco on United recently. The British guy next to me was, I’ll admit, a little “tipsy.” Our flight attendant was a fairly scowly and very grouchy somewhat queeny guy in his late forties. On one of the flight attendant’s trips around to offer water, the tipsy British guy […]
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My older daughter and I took my younger daughter to the San Francisco airport to catch a flight to Cincinnati. My younger daughter was going to visit my parents, her grandma and grandpa. She was 14 and Delta policy was that parents of unaccompanied minors wait in the boarding area until the flight had safely […]
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Customers Are Responsible For Flying Woes
December 8, 2007
in Flying Hell Commentary
Anymore, I think the “Flights From Hell” have more to do with fellow passengers than the airlines themselves. As a former airline employee of the big UA, I have endured years of complaints about service, delays, food, etc. The funny part, passengers want first-class service and smiling employees, but they want to pay bus-fare for […]
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