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?

A Splendid Trip

December 24, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

Many years ago, I don’t remember exactly when, but it was certainly before 9/11 as you will see, I was on an Air Canada flight from Calgary to San Francisco. At the time, AC was running a “lucky seat” promotion. They would announce a seat number during the flight and the lucky person in that […]

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Scolded For Showing Skin

December 23, 2009 Senior Stories

I was flying on an 8 hour flight from Boston to Frankfurt to start a semester abroad in Germany. I had the window, and next to me two little old ladies sat next to me. I was feeling pretty lucky cause they didn’t smell bad, or take up my seat, and kept to themselves. It […]

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Slick, Sticky & Smelly

December 23, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

The one night trip from Philadelphia to Miami included a same day meeting on arrival. My upgrade had come through so I printed my boarding pass at home. My first meeting of the day was at the airport lounge in Miami. All good. I stepped into the cabin and discovered that 3-C was now the […]

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First Class Fiasco

December 22, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

Four years ago, I was returning back from Beijing to San Francisco with my mother. She had joined me on a business trip as she had never been to China and my father was not a big traveler. So this trip had been a big treat for her and it had gone very well. To […]

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Whiffs Of Poo

December 22, 2009 Odor Stories

Just came back from flight from Boston to Tampa. I have 3 kids. I was sitting next to a father and his 3 year old, and behind us was the mother and an infant. We get airborne and I start smelling poo. I turn to the father and say, “Gosh something smells like poop on […]

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Delayed, Detained & Stuck By A Chatty Cowboy

December 21, 2009 Odds & Ends Stories

So I was in Denver visiting my boyfriend. My United flight was supposed to leave Denver for OKC at 7:30 p.m. The flight was delayed until 10:00 p.m. Okay, I could deal with that. When we finally boarded the plane we sat there for an hour; I guess they had to refuel. After we finally […]

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Mom Moans In Terror

December 21, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was flying back to Tampa from Miami and ended up across the aisle from a family (Dad, Mom, 2 kids). I knew we were in trouble when the Mom began moaning in terror before we even took off. Apparently she was deathly afraid of flying but would not take a tranquilizer and had to […]

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Pain In The Ass Passenger

December 20, 2009 Passenger Stories

I think this fits under the “Weird People” Category although Creepy and Scary are probably a better fit than Weird. So when I was 17 I flew down to Venezuela by myself to visit my cousins. About 30 minutes before my plane left Atlanta a man in his forties walks by me and says something […]

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Like Being Held By A Big Warm Airbag

December 20, 2009 Portly Stories

I was on a Canadian Regional jet from Toronto to Charlotte. I was sitting in the exit row. This very large lady came on board and promptly announced that the seat next to mine was hers. I knew I was in trouble when she asked “does that arm rest come up?” Thankfully the armrest didn’t […]

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Luggage Lost On A Nonstop Flight

December 19, 2009 Luggage Stories

This story is more about my asinine brother-in-law than it is about flights from hell. In all fairness the airline DID manage to lose his luggage on a nonstop flight from Las Vegas to Phoenix. So here we are, a few days before Christmas and my BIL, who ALWAYS drives when he visits us in […]

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Champagne Flight

December 18, 2009 Attendant & Pilot Stories

We were on a “champagne flight” from Newark to Jamaica, where they offer everyone a glass of champagne, along with a nice meal. My husband was seated near the window, I was in the middle, and our son was on the aisle seat. The first thing we observed was, as one of the attendants opened […]

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Men, Deal With Reclining Seats

December 18, 2009 Flying Hell Commentary

The seats are designed to recline, and each passenger has the right to recline their seats when it’s been announced that it’s OK. On more than one occasion, when sitting in a window seat, the man (it’s always a man) has kicked my seat repeatedly until it moves forward from the force of the kicking. […]

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