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?

Reflections From A Former Airline Agent

January 22, 2010 Attendant & Pilot Stories

In 1988 fresh out of college, I decided I wanted to work for the airlines so I could see the world.  So, I went to the International Air Academy in St. Louis to learn the trade.  After three months at the trade school, I went to work for Braniff Airlines in Kansas City, MO. (MCI). […]

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Nauseated Over Nail Clipping

January 22, 2010 Passenger Stories

I was on a puddle-jumper from SFO to Bakersfield, about an hour flight. A woman across the aisle started clipping her fingernails, the clippings falling on the floor. This lasted about 10 minutes (It must have been her bi-annual hygene maintenance day). At the end of the flight she got up first and I looked […]

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Attempts Made To Kibosh Kid’s Activities

January 20, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

I was on a flight from London to Detroit. I was seated in the middle seat of a 3 seat row, between two classmates. The seat row to my right was inhabited by two children and what seemed to be their nanny. After we took off, both of the little brats decided to run up […]

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Leak In The Drinking Water Tank

January 20, 2010 Airplane Stories

Several years ago, on a trip from Hartford to San Francisco, we had to change planes at ORD.  We were on United. The first leg of the trip was uneventful (in the words of John Cleese: “it was relatively crash-free”).  We had a short connection, but we made it to our gate in time.  We […]

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Struck By A Sharp Elbow

January 19, 2010 Passenger Stories

I was on a long distance flight. I deliberately picked a window seat in the first row in economy. I knew I’d have more room there to stretch my legs, and there would be no one in front of me to lower there seat onto my knees. After I took my seat, an woman in […]

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Parents Ditch Kids

January 19, 2010 Baby & Kid Stories

If I recall correctly, I was flying on a 737 from Chicago to San Jose, or perhaps San Jose to Chicago. I had the aisle and seated next to me was a mother and her son, about 7 years old. Immediately after the aircraft reached cruising altitude, the mother popped out of her seat and […]

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Secret Service Agent Man

January 18, 2010 Passenger Stories

Many years ago I was on a flight from Miami to Washington, D.C. My seatmate was an attractive man who proceeded to talk to me. In chatting, he said: “You probably can’t guess what I do.” I could not. It turns out he was a Secret Service agent. He was on the flight to guard […]

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Passenger Passes Out

January 18, 2010 Illness/Medical Stories

When I was 18, I was flying back (on my second air flight ever!) from visiting my married sister in Nevada. Now, in my extended family, I am known as ‘the sickly one.’ Everything that can happen does to me. On this flight, I boarded feeling cheery, excited, and well rested. I spoke to the […]

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The Ballad Of Flight 66

January 17, 2010 Delay/Cancellation Stories

This goes back to when I was in college, back when US airlines were flying 747s domestically, Nixon was President, and the planes that are now flying for NW were only 10 years old. As a kid, I never knew what flying with a reservation was. I was an airline brat. It allowed me to […]

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Airport Security Videos

January 17, 2010 Non-Stories

Concerns about airline security have been on the forefront of international consciousness. Efforts being undertaken to provide safe air travel have led to debates about security versus personal privacy. Stories are posted on Flights From Hell describing  grievances about poor treatment received by airport security staff (click here for the most recent one).  While the videos below definitely won’t allay […]

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Retired FA Reminisces And Advises

January 16, 2010 Attendant & Pilot Stories

I am a retired United FA and boy, do I have stories… from a baby croc stashed in a carry-on from Florida (that escaped onboard and bit some ankles), to a stow-away in the crew bunk room from London to San Fran (he was Hungarian and could only translate through drawing stick figures that he […]

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Maniac On Board

January 16, 2010 Passenger Stories

On a flight from Las Vegas to Oakland my husband and I were seated in a row of 3 seats and the middle seat was vacant, and I believe the only vacant seat on the plane. About 1/2 and hour out of Vegas we heard yelling, screaming, cursing and the sound of a crying baby […]

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