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?

How To Guarantee A Great Flight

April 27, 2010 Flying Hell Commentary

Okay, you can’t, and that’s my point. I have learned, over the years, a simple, basic fact that really helps me to have a decent flying experience no matter what actually happens on the flight. And that fact is: Flying sucks. The seats suck. The other people are likely to suck. The food, if it […]

17 comments Continue reading →

Shady Character And Baggage Bungle

April 26, 2010 Passenger Stories

I have always flown on Southwest Airlines for my travel needs. So when I found out I had to fly on Delta for a business conference, I was not exactly thrilled. Aside from having to pay for my luggage (yes, even carry-ons), I never really cared for their hospitality. I was flying from Tampa, FL […]

13 comments Continue reading →

Frosty Flight Attendant

April 26, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

I was flying a few years ago with my family and for some reason Dad wasn’t able to reserve seats for us near each other. I was sitting behind my little brother, who was eight at the time, and the FA seats a little girl next to him who was about the same age. After […]

12 comments Continue reading →

Bare Feet Between Seats

April 25, 2010 Odor Stories

I was on a flight from Europe to North America many years ago and this man decided to take his shoes off which was OK because he was seated behind me. But then he went to the bathroom with no shoes on and on his return decided to stick his feet in the space between […]

8 comments Continue reading →

Kids Perturb Passenger

April 24, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

I was moving back from France to Canada. I was moving home with my two children, ages seven and four. I was exhausted, it had been a long day and the kids did not sleep the whole flight. My son decided to repeatedly play with the shade of the guy’s window behind me. On top of […]

29 comments Continue reading →

Flight Delays And Luggage In Limbo

April 23, 2010 Luggage Stories

I recently took a trip from Long Island, NY to Cincinnati, OH on US Airways Express (Air Wisconsin). I haven’t flown US Airways in a long, long time, but they were the cheapest available. I arrived at the airport, checked in fine only to discover that they are now charging $25.00 to check bags… that’s […]

9 comments Continue reading →

No Regrets From Big Guy

April 22, 2010 Seat Stories

I am a large man. I am 6’2″ tall and weigh approximately 380lbs (however, if I weighed about 280 lbs, I would look fairly normal, to illustrate my size). Anyway, I am sitting on the window aisle and we are probably about 20 minutes into a 90 minute flight. I am sitting at a window […]

35 comments Continue reading →

Weather And Short Staffing Cause Consternation

April 21, 2010 Delay/Cancellation Stories

On June 3rd, I was on American Airlines flight 1300 from Dallas, TX to Reagan National in Washington D.C. A little over three hours into the flight, we were told that because of earlier, inclement weather, the runways, gates, etc. at Reagan were congested. As a result, we were waiting on authority to land, and […]

7 comments Continue reading →

Brothers Ride Biddy Buggy

April 20, 2010 Odds & Ends Stories

In 2005, my brother and I were flying America West from Salt Lake City, Utah to Ontario, California to visit my parents. Unfortunately, AWA (Now US Air) does not have non-stop flights between these two cities, and there is a stop-over in Phoenix. But their fares were reasonable, and we’ve never had a problem with […]

1 comment Continue reading →

Berated Over Overweight Bags

April 20, 2010 Luggage Stories

My family flew to Vienna with Austrian Airlines. Two of our luggages were 1 kg overweight. The flight attendant, Susan, who was checking us in, decided to start screaming at us about how we obviously can’t read because the maximum amount of kilograms permitted is 23. My mom proceeded to start emptying her hand bag […]

5 comments Continue reading →

DisUnited

April 19, 2010 Airport Stories

I was originally slated to fly out of SFO on flight 158, service to Hartford, CT at 11:59 pm, 6/20/09. I received two emails and two phone calls from United’s automated system stating that the flight was delayed from 11:59 pm to 12:39 am (on 6/21/09). I checked into the flight early Saturday morning, but […]

9 comments Continue reading →

The Bulldog Flight Attendant

April 18, 2010 Attendant & Pilot Stories

My wife and I went on a Caribbean Cruise, and took a nonstop flight back home, Puerto Rico to Los Angeles, on American Airlines. On this return flight, we encountered one of the BATTIEST flight crews around. It started in the airport. First off, they neglected to do any pre-boarding. We saw this poor old […]

4 comments Continue reading →