I was flying from Anchorage to Seattle in 2003. The plane had maybe 30 people on it, so there was at least one row per person. I was in row 9, against the right window. Just before we pushed back from the gate, I overheard a bit of a commotion in row 6, the bulkhead […]
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I had 2 flights from hell oddly enough only a few weeks apart in NOV-DEC 2002. On the November flight, I was a passenger on a Southwest flight from Columbus, Ohio to Chicago-Midway airport. I had flown this route many times before and it is usually only about a 50 minute trip. On this particular […]
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When I first boarded I considered myself lucky. I knew it was going to be a very long flight and I was privileged to be seated in the first row of the economy section. The seats had considerably more leg-room that the rows behind me. What I didn’t know was that the airline typically reserved […]
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Where to begin? I’ve been flying for business and pleasure for more than 27 years and have had so many flights from hell that I can’t count them. A few of the more memorable ones follow: When the smoking ban first went into place, a drunk boarded the plane from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and proceeded […]
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Story #1: A couple of years ago my wife, daughter and I were flying from Tampa to London via Chicago. Leaving Tampa on a lovely September afternoon, we were about half an hour into the flight when we were told to expect turbulence as we got closer to Chicago. About half an hour later we were […]
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Last summer a friend and I were on an Alitalia flight (Boeing 747) from Milan to London. Passengers were boarding and we took our seats in the emergency overwing exit row (I am quite tall and had asked for these seats). Across the aisle from us, in the two seats closest to the emergency overwing […]
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This past Sunday provided an up close and personal assessment of the airline industry, an industry that has seen considerable changes culminating with many major airlines going through bankruptcy. My wife Terri and I boarded Northwest Indianapolis bound flight leaving Bradley International Airport Hartford, Connecticut. It should be noted that Northwest Airlines is suffering through […]
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What is it about flying that makes seemingly normal people go bonkers? There are countless news stories, including some on our site, about passengers who turn belligerent, become violent, or commit bizarre acts. Transgressions aren’t limited solely to passengers. Recently a Delta flight was canceled because two female flight attendants reportedly got into a fistfight, […]
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I want to tell you that back in the 70’s air travel was an adventure and people who sat in First Class did indeed wear suit coats and women wore dresses. The food (even in coach) was actually tasty and you could tell that people cared when you had cloth napkins and fine wine glasses […]
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Reno, Nevada. United Airlines. 1989. This airport is in the middle of the city and the flight path is surrounded by hotels. There is a severe windstorm but the pilot decides to land anyway. I have a window seat and am watching in disbelief as the runway veers from left to right as the pilot […]
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I’ve flown frequently from the US to Tegucigalpa (Tegus), Honduras these past 2 years. Apparently, pilots have to have “special training” to land in Tegucigalpa because it’s like in a “bowl”… meaning they have to drop down suddenly in the mountains to land. I know this, I brace for this, but every time I land […]
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I was on a flight from Florida to Tennessee, returning home from a vacation. A lady a few seats back got settled in, then got up to do something, came back, and her cell phone (which she’d left on her seat) was missing. A stewardess noticed her searching all around on the floor for it, […]
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Ex-Pilot Comments On Changes Over The Years
February 19, 2010
in Flying Hell Commentary
I want to tell you that back in the 70’s air travel was an adventure and people who sat in First Class did indeed wear suit coats and women wore dresses. The food (even in coach) was actually tasty and you could tell that people cared when you had cloth napkins and fine wine glasses […]
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