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I wouldnt say 'airline' experience for mine, as none of my probs have been due to actual negligence nor poor cus svc... more like weather and mechanical stuff.
My worst flying experience was last summer, flying from Augusta, Maine to Boston on a 19-seat commuter prop plane... I cried like a baby, on the verge of bawling... U know, like when kids cry for along time, they get those strange reflex breaths? Yeah, that was me. The ride up there was smooth- quite beautiful with the views, actually. The ride back was so horrible I want to include a nasty expletive in this little story ...
So much turbulence, horrible, horrible, horrible!!!!
I had been traveling a lot for work and had just flown in to St. Louis from Ohio. While traveling, I had used a public laundromat and had ALL my clothes ruined... apparently some jerk put bleach in all the machines. Not having time to shop, I went to Walmart and bought jeans, polos, Tshirts and some sweatshirts. The office I was traveling to didn't have spare computers, so I went in when everyone else got off work, so my wardrobe wasn't a problem.
When I arrived in St Louis at 11 am (supposed to get in at 9pm the night before) I went directly to the office and my boss told me I was leaving for Detroit that afternoon at 4pm (Fired employee reformatted a computer, losing 4 months of drawings). But the office I was going to had a strict dress code and my "new" clothes wouldn't cut it. So, I ran out to the stores, bought 5 new suits and blouses, underwear, shoes to match - the whole shebang (boss's company credit card). To save time, I bought a new suitcase and garment bag while shopping, so we could go directly to the airport... my boss was going to store my other clothes in his office while I was in Detroit.
My boss drives me to the airport, explaining that the guy in Detroit is a real hardass, and I had better watch my toes, or I'd be fired.
New boss picks me up from the airport, carries my luggage to the company car, drives me to the hotel, hands me the keys to the car and has his wife pick him up... "See you at 7am SHARP!" It's 7:30pm now. I went inside to check in and then to the car pull my NEW luggage out of the trunk... it's ruined. There is a HOLE straight through the garment bag and all my new suits and blouses. There is black sticky stuff (tar or oil?) DRENCHING my new suitcase with the new shoes, underwear, bras, etc inside. The ONLY clothes I have are on my back (blouse and slacks). How the heck did the new boss miss this?
I went back into the hotel, got directions back to the airport and drove back. FURIOUS! I was losing it! I got to the airport at 9pm, parked in a "loading zone only" and STOMPED inside. I stood at the counter (NorthWest) yelling for someone to "get your ass out here... NOW!". (Why they came out when I was being that abusive, I'll never know!) Two employees came out, I ranted while showing them my ruined stuff with all it's tags on it, pulled out the receipt for the luggage... you know what they did? They went in the back, one came back right away with a paper bag and helped me sort through everything... 2 pairs of underwear, 1 pair of hose, a pair of shoes were all that weren't ruined. They said almost nothing while I continued to rant... loudly - yes, I drew a crowd. I was freaking out and they weren't saying anything! By the time we got the stuff in the paper bag, the second employee came out of the back... with a piece of paper in hand. A check for the full amount I had paid for the clothes and luggage, plus $100 extra, MINE - If I agreed to leave RIGHT THEN.
So I head back to the hotel but got lost twice on the way, had to stop for directions a couple times. Picked up some food at a convenience store(hadn't eaten since breakfast). I hit the room at 1am, put in for a wake up call, set the alarm clock next to the bed and passed out. I woke up at 9:30am. Seems the hotel lost power during the night. The wake up calls were blanked out, alarms reset to noon. I called the office, explained what happened. I showed up at the office wearing what I had on the day before. Everyone treated me VERY suspiciously, but nothing was said. I was shown the cubicle, given a key to the office, handed a stack of drawings and told that I should work on those until they were done, whatever it took, work Saturdays and Sundays if necessary.
I worked 12 hours Friday, 8 hours Saturday (spent 3 hours shopping for new clothes before I went in), 4 hours Sunday. Monday morning, I turned in the work and asked what else they had. Turns out "Fired boy" had taken 4 months to do the work originally... they had figured it would take me at least 3 to redo it all.
I forgot to add... the new boss called the hotel in the morning and asked for my room when I didn't show up. He was told I never checked in (power outage, remember? Blanked out their computers, they only had their 6pm backed up info). They had filed a police report for the "stolen" company car.
That's how I got a transfer to Detroit with a HUGE raise, big bonus and 6 months of company paid expenses.
The moral of the story... not all airlines are evil, and sometimes when bad stuff happens... EXCELLENT stuff results!
my problem time was last Xmas and going to Korea to see the kids and grandkids..i had a carry on bag with cloths and some basic grooming items and medical items and my ipad sling bag that was it..going into custom in tokyo was ok and korea was ok ..but the flight back was a total nightmare for me and getting back into the U.S when dealing with the U.S custom personal there in Anchorage air port .
i had just the carryon with cloths and basic items in it and medical items i need ..as he told his boss that is was stange that i had only the following items for a two week and half week trip to korea in the bag for i had a razor with a two pack of razor blades along with a bar ofwhat is know as liggets combo shaveing and bath soap in plastic travel case and a tube of underarm deodorant and toothbrush with cover and denture brush along with a small tube of toothpaste and a small tube of polygrip for the dentures to use on the flight to bush my gums and clean my dentures as they where need that was it all packed into the ziplock plastic bag as the tsa regs ..
for my kid had bought a few of the items i would need there for my two and half week stay that i would be there .
so when asked where was the rest of my grooming items i explained to the custom agent that i had been to korea to see family there and they had items i need so i did not bring anything extra with me ..then he asked me why just the carry on to hold the cloths ..i told they had washing machines there in the houseing so i could wash my cloths there at base houseing where my kid lived at ..then he asked why only the ipad unit instead of a laptop ..i told it was lighter and it had more battie life and i liked it better for travel ..he poked around in the sling bag for about 5 mins pulling out the meds and small one time travel over the counter meds i had in a ziplock plastic bag with the note in korean saying that the medical items for personal use and if need contact this doctor and the number was there on the letter .. ..
this went on for about 20 mins of why only a carryon bag and ipad sling bag for traveling overseas ..i keep repeating the same things i had told the guy before..this made him ask more question about the reason behind my vist to korea ..finaily i got tired of it and asked a another custom agent who was passing by behind him to send over someone who is this person boss ..in case was the person who i had stoped and i explain to him everything that i had just explain to the custom personal in front of me ..he went thought my stuff and asked me you travel light i said yes and he goes welcome home and let me in and i went on to catch the flight down to Sac area to get home that day ..
my guess was the next worst airline story i was in the military at the time was comeing back to the states when the plane had to go into Iceland at the local airport there..
so i call the base and explain to them the problem and what should i do ..the guy tells me if you still there in 12 hours call me back and we put a call into you command there in states to let them know what is up with you..
so i was there 12.hour later because they still had not fixed the problem and now they where going to ship us off to the some hotel ..i so called the local base back and talk to the duty nco there ..he took my name and command down and told me to not to leave the hotel inless for food or they are going to put you back onto the plane for the flight back to the states..
so i go to sleep the next morning they tell us the part is comeing from England and it will be here tonight and installed and we will be leaveing the next morning ..so i call my command and tell them the news they go ok you now reported in ..this went on for about three days ..for the part did not fit or they shipped the wrong part or they would not let me get on another flight going to the states i had to stay at the hotel intill the plane was repaired ..
so every morning when i got up i placed a long distance phone call through the military base switch board to the base in the states reporting in sir and they would tell me to call back the next day ..
the funny thing is when i got there to my new command in the states the duty sergeant goes it the ghost reporting in sir..for everyday my name was read at roll call and people where wondering where i was at for they say in space and beyond as the joke was on me ..
for i got to be the CSM driver down in South America and he told me it not the first time someone in the company who was booked on that airline by the military has been stuck in Iceland for a few days ..my CC was pretty cool about the whole thing and even let me go on leave as the place along with not chargeing me any of my socalled leave time that i had comeing ..
for i was to check in with the unit leave my gear behind and go home on leave for two weeks ..then come back to the unit and we where going to South America for a tour down there..
Jeepers, what a terrible event to witness on the Air France incident I face general unpleasantness at airports as I get singled out every time for the specialized pat down, hands around my legs, up my front, back, arms straight out, shoes off, belt removed and treated like a criminal. I hate it so much and am so fed up with the system that I haven't flown since I had to from Hong Kong to get back to the U.S. in January of 05. I drive now wherever I want to go within the U.S.
But my worst experience while on an airplane was a business flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco where I was headed home after three days on a business trip in SLC. I ended up on some kind of bench seat (was it Southwest Airlines? I forget) and I'm a thin man. I'm 6ft at 150lbs. I got set inbetween to extremely obese men whose bodies pushed into me, so much so that I had to hold my arms straight out and hold my kneecaps the whole flight. On top of that, one of the guys had keys or something sharp in his pocket which dug into my hip and left me bruised.
I could tell both men were embarrassed and I felt badly for them as I know they knew they were smothering me, but there was nothing they could do, nothing I could do, and I was so relieved to get off that plane.
I have never had this happen to me on both sides - only once on a BA flight and I went and spoke to the cabin crew and was moved because there was a seat available - but what would be the situation if there wasn't... because it is really unfair to have an already small space invaded by other peoples excess body fat... I usually get an aisle seat but if this happened I am not sure what is acceptable in the US regarding your rights..
I flew from Mexico to NY years ago and was charged for 15 kilos excess weight and thought at the time the overall weight of passenger AND luggage should be taken into account - a bit controversial I know but I weighed at least half of at more than 30 other passengers and much less than most of the rest and I had to pay extra... really not fair !!
iam a big guy at 6.ft 3.inchs and 270 pds i know iam a really big guy ..so i get the business class seats when i travel overseas to another country ..but short flights like southwest cattle car flights i try not to get into someone else space without meaning to..
as far as flying out of mexico ..you where somebody meal ticket on that flight for there are some of the worst crooks are standing at the ticket counter there ..you got dinged for you look like you had money and they took you for it with the overweight bag scam ..
if your down there again and it happens again ask to talk to the counter supervisor over the fact the agent is chargeing you extra and ask them to take the bag to another scale to make sure the scale is not working right ..
i seen them down there step on the scale to make the bag overwieght so you would have to pay for overweight charge that went right into there pocket not the company pocket..i seen some of the stangest scams in mexico when it came to checking in there comeing back to the states after a vacaton ..also speaking spanish does help for when start speaking in spanish to you and you do not reply in spanish they think they have found there mark for the day ..
Was on a flight from LAX to MSP a few years ago, and had a family with three kids sitting nearby. The kids were doing fine but the family was split up into two rows, since there were only three seats side by side. So the mom was sitting with two kids in one row, and the dad with a kid in another row. Just before landing - where everyone had to be strapped in with seatbelts on, the kid with the dad started crying, wanting his mom. The dad did as best he could, but the kid was absolutely inconsolable, crying his heart out. After a minute, a lady a few rows away turned around and yelled "will you shut that kid up". The dad didn't take kindly to that remark and a shouting match ensued, which ended with a flight attendant telling the rude lady to keep it down or he'd have to call security to pick her up after landing. It just left a really bad mood in the whole cabin.
1. We were supposed to fly from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Atlanta after returning from a Caribbean cruise. It was a Delta flight and the aircraft was a Lockheed Tristar or L-1011. Somewhere between San Juan and Miami, I hear and feel an unnatural thumping. I am aware enough to realize this is not mere turbulence. It is too patterned to be turbulence. I look out my window and I see sparks and even flames coming out of the engine on the right wing. Several other passengers see this and start to holler. The alarm for flight attendants starts going off. Finally, the pilot announces that the right engine has failed and we will be forced to make an emergency landing in Miami. On two engines, instead of three, the plane flies more slowly and we get to Miami much later. As we land, we see emergency vehicles all along the sides of the runway. Several women burst into tears as we land. The plane finally rolls to a stop. I will give Delta credit for quickly putting us on another flight home. However, we are ready to jump out of our seats at the slightest bump at this point.
2. We get onboard another Delta L-1011 for a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. As we are staring out the window we observe refueling going on. Suddenly, a huge amount of fluid begins gushing out of the wing--and I mean huge. Immediately a hazardous materials crew shows up in special suits and begins placing material around the spilled fuel to soak it up. This operation seems to occupy a tremendous amount of time. When it is complete, Delta requires all the passengers to leave the plane and sit in the terminal for another hour. At the end of this time, we reboard and finally get in Honolulu three hours behind schedule.
My worst: getting grounded for 17 hours in the Nadi airport in Fiji, during a refueling stop from Sydney to LAX. While we were on the ground (was supposed to just be a short layover) the Nadi airport's computer system went down, and so they weren't able to scan our passports for the USA end of things to verify. So we had to sit in Nadi airport, which is grungy, dark, and uncomfortable, waiting for them to get their computers back online. We were alloted a $5 coupon for food and drink for the whole 17 hrs, and that's it. We couldn't leave and go sit on the beach, because they couldn't tell us when they'd be ready to board the plane. There was no internet access available, and the sparse electrical outlets in the terminal were not on, so I couldn't just plug in and game or watch movies. There was no bookstore either, so it was a really boring, dirty, annoying 17 hrs.
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I face general unpleasantness at airports as I get singled out every time for the specialized pat down, hands around my legs, up my front, back, arms straight out, shoes off, belt removed and treated like a criminal. I hate it so much and am so fed up with the system that I haven't flown since I had to from Hong Kong to get back to the U.S. in January of 05. I drive now wherever I want to go within the U.S. 
