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?

The Frustrations of Flying

December 5, 2011 Flying Hell Commentary

Air travel is supposed to be convenient, save time and offer a chance to relax when going from one place to another. In reality, however, those hopes can often vanish amidst a series of mounting frustrations that leave a traveler wondering if it was worth boarding a plane in the first place. Just about every […]

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Fifteen More Minutes

December 3, 2011 Odds & Ends Stories

This took place when I was ten years old, on a charter to Aruba. We flew some horribly unprofessional airline, Xtra Airways. We always used to take a limo to Boston/Logan wickedly early in the morning, like 4:00 for a 6:00 departure time. The limo (car) showed up around 3:50, and so did the phone call […]

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Tormented by Tots

November 30, 2011 Baby & Kid Stories

It was my parents, my sister and me travelling to the Middle East from Australia (a 14 hour flight). We booked with Etihad Airways. Now my sister was only 8 months old, so we had to sit all the way at the front with ‘the rest of the babies’ so my mum could have a […]

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A Rough Day

November 27, 2011 Luggage Stories

I live about 2000 miles away from my sister to whom I’m very close. One weekend, I made a quick flying trip home because I’d decided there was no way I was going to miss wedding dress shopping with her. It was a fantastic but very short and busy weekend. The last morning I was […]

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I Have To Pee!

November 25, 2011 Passenger Stories

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to fly US Airways to DC. Nothing much happened on the outbound from Boston, apart from us getting stuck to the tractor and the slow mechanic, but that was a stupid little thing. The inbound home was much, much worse. We boarded at National, rather uneventfully. I […]

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Scared by Stares

November 22, 2011 Passenger Stories

I’m always travelling to the Middle East. This time I was flying back home from Lebanon to Australia. Now my sister, parents and I were booked to sit next to each other, but as you may know airlines always make mistakes and that’s fine, so I had to sit one row behind next to an […]

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Mr. Smelly

November 18, 2011 Odor Stories

This happened May 2011 on a flight from Chicago to Atlanta. I was going to visit my aunt and celebrate her daughter’s (my cousin’s) graduation from high school. My daughter (1 y.o.) and I flew down to Atlanta and had a great flight and a great trip. My daughter is well-behaved on planes and will […]

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Close to the Edge

November 15, 2011 Airplane Stories

“African aviation has the worst safety record in the world.” Over many years and millions of miles flying across the length and breadth of Africa, I had a true appreciation of that seemingly innocuous phrase. Yeah, well it’s still safer than crossing the road, isn’t it. Is it? Depends. One of the things it depends […]

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Air India Hell Security Breach Gatwick

October 30, 2011 Delay/Cancellation Stories

I was dreading the flight even before take-off in Bhuj, India, near Pakistan. Not exactly on the map for international fun seekers. I was there as a media consultant for a Jain charity called Veerayatan. Security is tight at the airport and run by the Indian Army, so that means that it is a secure […]

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Every Man for Himself

October 21, 2011 Odds & Ends Stories

There is no easy way to fly from Charlotte, NC where I live to Moncton, NB, Canada where my parents live. You have to connect somewhere and I’ve tried almost every conceivable way to do it. You either have a connection that is too tight for comfort or you languish in your connecting airport for […]

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The Flight that Never Happened

October 9, 2011 Airplane Stories

October 1st, 2011, a happy day for many in China – National Day – going away day, not-going-to-work-this-whole-week day! Hence, not many people were really bothered by the extremely inefficiently run check-in line at Aeroflot’s desk at Shanghai Pudong International Airport because we were all going on holiday – or so we thought. Boarding was […]

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Plagued by Pilot’s Prattle & Police Interrogation

September 25, 2011 Odds & Ends Stories

I love flying and airplanes. At least I have except for one flight. I was taking an afternoon commuter flight into Chicago’s O’Hare airport from a small town in Illinois. It was the end of a business trip and I was relaxed until the pilot of this relatively small airplane turned on his mike and […]

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