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?

Ticked Off over Waste of Time

January 31, 2012 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Flying from Buffalo to Montreal with a 50 minute layover in Washington Dulles Airport. The first leg of the flight was delayed due to the inbound flight. At first 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes. At this point, I have 20 minutes to catch my next flight, and I had to check in my bag […]

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Throw Up Stresses Traveler

January 29, 2012 Illness/Medical Stories

On Wednesday my family and I took a flight from Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) to Germany. I hate flying, and have awful anxiety about it, so I decided to take a Valium that I got from the doctor. Earlier in the week, my brother caught the flu and was sick. We were all worried we would […]

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Plan to Avoid Airport Goes Awry

January 27, 2012 Airport Stories

This story took place precisely a year ago, in January 2011. I had spent the last 3 months travelling in South America, and was finally returning home to Northern Europe. At the time of return I was waaay south of Chile, bordering the South Pole areas. So it was obviously going to be a long […]

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Stewed Steward

January 23, 2012 Attendant & Pilot Stories

In 1999 I flew from Honolulu to Sydney. We flew with Qantas Airlines. To be honest I rather like flying with Qantas. However the steward we had on this flight was a bit special. We didn’t notice anything in the beginning, but as they served beverages we noticed everyone got their drinks before we did. […]

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Desperate to Fly out of Dubai

January 10, 2012 Airport Stories

After spending a wonderful four weeks on a road trip along the east coast of Australia, we boarded our Emirates plane in Sydney to Munich via Dubai. After an uneventful 12 hour flight nearly all the way to Dubai, we learned that we were unable to land in Dubai due to fog. We would instead […]

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Middle-Aged Passengers Make Out Like Horny Teens

January 7, 2012 Couples Stories

[Mature content] I flew on Sept. 11, 2010; I was on my way home to the East Coast from the Upper Midwest because my mother’s cancer had become terminal. I was needed to help with her care, and I obviously just wanted to be there. So to say I was emotional was an understatement. While […]

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Traveler Furious over Refusal to Board Flight

December 23, 2011 Non-Stories

Flights From Hell was sent a link to the video below by a friend of the videographer.  The video, taken recently at Albuquerque’s airport, shows an individual who’s very upset at a gate agent for refusing to allow him to board a flight because he’s inebriated and agitated. Although the traveler pleads that he has […]

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British Airways Berated for Boorish Behaviour

December 21, 2011 Attendant & Pilot Stories

Posted below verbatim is correspondence that was forwarded to Flights From Hell. Here is a letter I wrote to British Airways complaining about their boorish flight crews! Dear Sir, As a frequent BA flyer (Gold Card # ______), I have finally gotten to the point of writing a letter to say how sick to death […]

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Flight Crew’s Silence Puzzles Passenger

December 17, 2011 Airplane Stories

You can’t fly from Raleigh-Durham to Nashville at an altitude of 1000 feet – there are mountains in the way! This wasn’t the first thought on my list of increasingly worrisome thoughts about five minutes into our flight out of Raleigh-Durham on a recent clear, sunny Sunday. The first “hmm” moment came when I realized […]

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Happy Pill Coma Disrupted by Couple’s Quarrel

December 15, 2011 Couples Stories

Although this happened a few years ago it has reinforced my need for an aisle or window seat. I had flown down to Cancun with my mom, aunt and cousin. We had a great time except for my aunt taking in more that her fair share of tequila. As we departed our lovely villa by […]

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Cat Fight over Reclining Seat

December 11, 2011 Seat Stories

This isn’t really a flight from hell per se, but led to an amusing incident. It stated when my wife and I recently returned from a trip to Europe on a US Airways flight from Rome – Charlotte, NC. It was a crowded flight, with few or no free seats. We get there, find a […]

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Severe Pain Traumatizes Traveler

December 6, 2011 Airport Stories

For a few years now I’ve had plantar fasciitis in both feet, and problems with both my Achilles tendons as a result of a running injury. Generally I know how to minimise the problems and they have little effect on my day-to-day life, unless I’ve been on my feet a lot. Earlier this summer, I […]

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