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?

No Bags For Coach Class

August 31, 2010 Luggage Stories

My favorite luggage tale happened at Christmas time, 2008. My family of five had spent a week sunning and diving in Grenada in the southern Caribbean. Air Jamaica has direct service from Grenada. Upon arriving at JFK, the 200+ coach passengers gathered around the carousel. After a long wait, only first class bags appeared. Perhaps […]

2 comments Continue reading →

Stressed Over Seatmates

August 30, 2010 Passenger Stories

I flew back home to Germany from Lahore, Pakistan via Qatar with Qatar Airways as my husband comes from there and I was visiting his family. As I hadn’t thought about reserving a seat, I got the absolutely worst seat between two other people in the middle row! On my right was an older woman who was obviously accompanied with […]

7 comments Continue reading →

Demoted To Coach Due To Sickened Senior

August 29, 2010 Illness/Medical Stories

About 2 months ago, a flight I expected would be more pleasant than usual turned out to be a real flight from hell. Before my flight, I used my miles to upgrade to first class on an AA flight. I thought this would make my flight much more comfortable than usual… I was wrong. Next […]

7 comments Continue reading →

Principal’s Solution For Sixty Stranded Students

August 28, 2010 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Well I was flying with my school and my principal’s former school. In total there were 60 of us on the airplane to Newark. The flight there was fine but back not so much. First of all we all sat in the airport at 6 at night waiting for our plane to take off. Then […]

7 comments Continue reading →

Overbooked & Overwrought

August 26, 2010 Odds & Ends Stories

I was flying from SFO to Delhi (India) during February on a quarterly business trip. From SFO to Newark (EWR) it was United, and then Continental to Delhi (approx 14 hours non-stop). My flight is fully confirmed all the way and I am looking forward to the ordeal armed with a laptop and a book. […]

3 comments Continue reading →

Tickets Given To Wrong Person

August 25, 2010 Odds & Ends Stories

That this happened 20 years ago is immaterial – the lesson’s the same.  I was checking in with my wife for a flight to Europe from LAX.  As we were visiting a company office, I had a box of samples with me as excess baggage that would be paid by the company credit card.  We […]

1 comment Continue reading →

Turbulence Makes Traveler Hesitant To Fly

August 24, 2010 Weather Stories

Debating whether or not to ever fly again… To date, this was the last plane ride I’ve ever been on. I’m skeptical about getting on another plane, especially after this. Twelve hour flights, 30 minute flights – turbulence is a pretty frightening thing. Last August (that would be 8/09), I was on a flight from Las […]

3 comments Continue reading →

No Santa For Seat Kicker

August 23, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

I was flying early Christmas Day morning from PHL-ORD-SEA on United. I overheard the father in the seat behind me say to his young son, “Look closely out the window, maybe you will see Santa Claus.” I rolled my eyes and cringed knowing what would soon follow as the flight was delayed and the sun […]

31 comments Continue reading →

Passenger Grabs Wife’s Privates

August 22, 2010 Couples Stories

[Mature content] My wife and I were flying to Acapulco, Mexico for our honeymoon. We were pretty excited, but I was also a little nervous. I had flown before and have even flown international, but for some reason this flight to Mexico had all the signs of being a total fiasco. First of all, we […]

11 comments Continue reading →

Baggage Fee Bothers Flier

August 21, 2010 Odds & Ends Stories

I’ll say it right away: This one’s my fault. First, some background: I’m an American studying on exchange for a year at a Dutch university. I’d managed to arrange my classes such that I could leave the beginning of December and return in March. I’m a Floridian, see, and I decided that this time I […]

4 comments Continue reading →

Observations From An Airline Staffer

August 19, 2010 Animal Stories

A customer wanted to avoid the pet fee, so they tranquilized their cat, wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in a suitcase/carry-on. The flight was delayed and the cat woke up screeching and clawing. Busted. A female customer brought aboard the flight a Chihuahua dog. During the flight the crew attendant noticed that […]

8 comments Continue reading →

Missing Ticket Troubles Traveler

August 18, 2010 Passenger Stories

I was returning from the Bahamas to Washington, DC and decided at the last minute to upgrade to first class for $150. As I made my way on the plane I noticed a woman sitting in my seat. I asked her to check her ticket as I was pretty sure she was supposed to be […]

5 comments Continue reading →



← Previous Entries

Next Entries →