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?

Unglued By Toddler Tantrum

July 11, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

I have been a flier all my life. My father is a pilot for Continental Airlines and even before he was hired we flew everywhere. My parents assured me that when I had my daughter she would be just as travel-happy a child as I had been….and she was. On a recent flight from NWR […]

16 comments Continue reading →

Dog Escapes Designer Bag

July 10, 2009 Animal Stories

On a flight from Boston to Florida, about a year ago, I saw definitely the weirdest thing I’ve seen happen on a plane. I wouldn’t say it was “hell” exactly, but it was a nuisance. A couple, near the back of the plane, had brought their little dog on the plane. Normal, no biggy. But, […]

6 comments Continue reading →

Kid Violates The Law Of Physics

July 9, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

London to Washington/Dulles, 1995. I was flying back home from a tour of Ireland with my mother. There was a chubby and hyper kid in the seat in front of us who would not stop moving for the entire 8 hour flight. We could hear him talking to the flight attendants and the passengers around […]

2 comments Continue reading →

I Smell Pee

July 8, 2009 Odor Stories

Back in 2005, on a United flight from Omaha to Denver, I was seated in the front coach row waiting for our plane to take off. I was the only person on that side of the aisle and I had the window, so I thought I had it made. But just before the doors were […]

6 comments Continue reading →

Vodka Cures All

July 6, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

So it is important to point out what kind of person my friend and I am. We hate people sitting between us on a flight. We will actually fake a cough to try to get people to not sit between us. Well this was a SW flight and we thought it may be empty since […]

33 comments Continue reading →

Gas Permeated Clothing

July 5, 2009 Odor Stories

Atlanta to Gatwick, March 2007: We’re flying BA, my husband has the window seat, I have the middle seat, and here comes the guy with the aisle seat. He sits down and starts handling religious pamphlets, from a particular “brand” of religion that is very big on proselytizig. I think “oh no” and don’t say […]

3 comments Continue reading →

The Wicked Witch And Her Evil Monkeys

July 4, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

It was an unforgettable flight. The wicked witch boarded the plane with her two evil monkeys. I knew it when we made eye contact I was the unlucky soul to be blessed with the family’s presence. Unluckily they crammed into the seats behind me; the “father” was there too. It was a flight from DC […]

5 comments Continue reading →

Deeply Grateful To The Airlines!

July 4, 2009 Flying Hell Commentary

Consulting had me flying on average two hundred and thirty legs a year up until five years ago. It had gotten to the point that, with cancellations and overnight delays it was taking longer than it would to drive. The flight Nazis even back then had become unbearably rude and abusive. While working a job […]

5 comments Continue reading →

The Barfer

July 1, 2009 Illness/Medical Stories

Took a flight from O’Hare to San Francisco. Sat in the last row, window seat. Only 1 open seat on the plane near the front of the plane. An overweight woman sat next to me whose thighs overhang her seat and squished next to mine. That is not the bad part (although it was bad). […]

11 comments Continue reading →

Tortured For Hours

July 1, 2009 Baby & Kid Stories

I was flying back to the States from JoBurg, South Africa. The flight from hell was roughly 12 hours from JoBurg to London. Being a travel agent, I attempted to get a free upgrade with the gate agents to a sleeper bed/seat. No luck there. Once on-board, I attempted to sleep, only to be awoken […]

20 comments Continue reading →

Trapped In Purgatory

June 29, 2009 Delay/Cancellation Stories

When we decided to take our young son on his first flight, we made sure we got a non-stop flight United from Dulles to Portland Oregon. I was terrified that my son was going to be disruptive (still nursing, and just a little more than a year old), but I quickly found that that was […]

2 comments Continue reading →

Gin Is My Co-Pilot

June 29, 2009 Food & Drink Stories

I’m a phobic flyer, no good reason that I know of to be afraid, I just am. Anyway, my job involved flying from the UK to Germany every three weeks. I managed it by either Gin or Valium (not at the same time). One flight I have decided that gin will be my co-pilot and […]

3 comments Continue reading →



← Previous Entries

Next Entries →