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 Proselytizing Passenger

October 28, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was on a flight to Tampa to visit with family. I live in the northern US and so it was nice to be able to go down and not only spend a little time with family, but to get out to the beaches for some R&R as well. So I packed up my vacation […]

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“Get A Room” Make Out Session

October 26, 2009 Couples Stories

[Mature content] I was on a return flight from a business trip from Indianapolis to Detroit, back in 1997. It was a late evening flight and I was upset to begin with because a couple of my colleagues had turned on me at our business meeting in IN so I decided to sit apart from […]

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Soaked Luggage, Dampened Spirit

October 26, 2009 Luggage Stories

Last summer, I went overseas. This was the first time I had flown by myself. I first flew into JFK from Atlanta. The departure was delayed, and then once we arrived at JFK we had to sit on the tarmac for a little over an hour. After everyone finally got off the plane, we waited […]

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A Music Guy And A Spitter

October 25, 2009 Passenger Stories

I was flying on an airline that routinely travels from Los Angeles to Mexico and back. I have flown them several times as I was dating a girl who lived between Mexico and Los Angeles. I never really liked the airline that much as they were not usually known for being that accommodating, and often […]

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How Come They Get Steak?

October 25, 2009 Airplane Stories

I’m a fan of The Far Side. Gary Larson often used airline travel as a subject. One of my favorites is a cartoon showing people on an airliner. One man has a newspaper with a headline that says something about mid-air collisions. Most of the passengers are looking out of a window with their hair […]

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Computer System Woes

October 24, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

Summer of 2008, I was returning from a conference in Vienna to my home in the Isle of Man, making a connection through London. Irritatingly enough, as they were on different carriers, the Vienna flight landed in London Heathrow Airport whilst the Isle of Man flight was to depart from London Gatwick Airport. This usually […]

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Corpulent Passenger Crushes Woman

October 23, 2009 Portly Stories

I was flying from Los Angeles to Seattle in first class. My husband was on one side of the aisle and I was on the other so I asked the person sitting next to him if he’d switch with me so my husband and I could sit together. They agreed and we switched. A few […]

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Haunted By Passenger’s Public Potty Time

October 22, 2009 Senior Stories

I once boarded a flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix a few years ago… this was on an airline that did assigned seating. I ended up somehow sitting between a very elderly French couple. I gladly tried to trade seats with one of them so they could sit together except that not only did the stewardess […]

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Brown Chew Spit

October 22, 2009 Passenger Stories

Back in 2004 I was returning to Iraq after emergency leave because my Grandfather died. I sat next to a guy that seemed pretty friendly. A few minutes into the flight he pulls out a can of dip and slaps a huge amount into his lower lip. Being in the military I’m pretty used to […]

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Passenger Chats With Celebrity Movie Producer

October 21, 2009 Passenger Stories

I had two weird things happen to me traveling from Hong Kong to Los Angeles via Manila on Philippine Airlines. Upon landing at Manila Airport, I was enjoying the landscape of Manila as we approached the runway. I would guess that we were close enough to the ground that I would maybe be able to […]

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Mouthy Soccer Mom

October 21, 2009 Passenger Stories

I’ve been amused by the stories on here of being seated by huge or smelly people, but my worst airline experience is of an entirely different nature. I was flying from Northern CA to Los Angeles on business, so I was alone and just trying to keep to myself. Unfortunately, I was seated next to […]

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Intentional Infliction Of Gas

October 20, 2009 Odor Stories

Several years ago I was working in Louisiana and was only able to fly home to San Diego every other week. I boarded my connection from Houston to San Diego excited that in only 3 more hours I would be home. I took my seat my seat in a fairly jovial mood and was greeted […]

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