Over the years, I’ve flown well over five million miles, across a countless number of airlines. Obviously there’s some variance between flights, but for the most part, things go pretty smoothly, and not much catches me off guard.
Of course some flights are more memorable than others. I typically make lists with what I consider to be my best flight experiences, though in this post, I figure it’s fun to maybe share some of the worst flight experiences I’ve had over the years.
The focus with this list is on flights that were memorable in a negative way, rather than just being bad in line with expectations. In other words, the list won’t have flights where I flew economy on an ultra low cost carrier, and the legroom was limited.
Heck, I’m not even including most of the things I’ve experienced over time that are strange and uncomfortable but that happen, which may rattle the average traveler, from engine failures, to lightning strikes, to deaths onboard, to people being removed from flights in handcuffs. I’m also not including things like Air India first class or Pakistan International Airlines business class, which are known to be subpar, so I came in with low expectations.
Longtime OMAAT readers may remember some or all of these. So here we go, in no particular order…
My Royal Jordanian flight from hell
In March 2013, I flew Royal Jordanian’s A330 business class on what was supposed to be a routine fifth freedom flight from Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG), and it ended up being the scariest flight of my life.
Bad weather, lightning strikes, turbulence, etc., don’t generally scare me, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before. We spent around 30 minutes circling at a low altitude in what can only be described as the worst weather I’ve ever experienced.
If you’ve seen Air Crash Investigation, this part of the flight felt like something right out of the show. I can’t even describe the level of turbulence, hail was battering the fuselage, and the cabin was otherwise so eerily quiet, aside from people praying and crying. Some of the flight attendants were in the jump seats crying.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s the only time in my life where I thought I wasn’t going to survive a flight. When the plane finally touched down in Hong Kong, I was literally crying (as were most other passengers). One of the business class flight attendants was in the cockpit for the entire approach. In addition to her makeup being all over her face (as if she had been crying), she commented how the captain said that was going to be his last flight. I imagine that wasn’t actually serious, but it wasn’t a joke either…
Following that flight, I developed a fear of flying, whereby for most of the rest of the year, I was terrified every time that I stepped on a plane. Fortunately I eventually got over it, but I hope I never have a flight like that again.
TAAG Angola Airlines’ first class “service”
I love trying new airlines, and in March 2018, I was delighted to fly TAAG Angola Airlines’ 777 first class from Luanda to Sao Paulo. Unfortunately a short while after boarding, the purser became very concerned about my picture taking, to the point that he aggressively approached me and demanded I delete all my pictures. He even demanded to see both my camera roll and phone notepad, and even got the captain involved.
The whole situation was incredibly awkward, though even beyond that, service was quite lousy. For example, when I woke up in the morning, I wasn’t greeted with a smile and asked how my sleep was. Instead, I was scolded. “Why did you sleep so long? We only have 30 minutes, you need to eat fast. I give you 10 minutes.” I didn’t even ask to have breakfast!
Meanwhile the TAAG employees seated in first class received great service, for the record…
Lufthansa purser accuses me of recording crew
I’m an introvert who doesn’t enjoy conflict, and doesn’t want to make people feel uncomfortable. In January 2018, I flew Lufthansa’s A320 business class from Zurich to Frankfurt, and as the crew was performing their safety demonstration, they suddenly stopped, and exchanged a few words.
Hmmm, I found that odd, and wondered what was going on. Then the purser approached me, and accused me of videotaping the crew. That was simply false and baseless — like, I don’t take pictures of people. She argued with me a bit, and then I insisted on showing her my camera roll, so she could see I hadn’t done that.
Rather than apologizing for the misunderstanding, she simply walked off. I felt embarrassed and super uncomfortable. When she later came around to serve me, I politely told her that I didn’t appreciate the way she handled that situation, and that I felt embarrassed by the way she treated me. She then became defense, claiming she hadn’t “accused” me of anything, but instead, simply “asked.”
Disappointment in China Southern first class
In February 2014, I flew China Southern’s A380 first class from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, which I was looking forward to, as an A380 enthusiast. It was just a really bad experience, not at all in line with what you’d expect in first class.
It’s not that the crew wasn’t friendly, but rather, it’s that there was clearly a lack of training and investment in the product. For example, China Southern’s first class champagne on its flagship route was Duc de Paris, which retailed for $5 per bottle at the time.
The review ended up going much more viral than I was expecting, and to save face, management took action. The company apparently issued an internal memo about it, and even reportedly demoted and punished the crew, which I feel horribly about. Like I said, any shortcomings in service were due to a lack of training, rather than due to a lack of effort on the part of the crew.
Awkwardness in Oman Air business class
In January 2024, I flew Oman Air’s A330 business class from Muscat to Frankfurt. I’m a huge fan of Oman Air, and on a good day, the airline is exceptional. However, this wasn’t a good day, and the flight attendant working my section of business class was really… not good, or happy to be there.
OMAAT readers often tell me I’m too passive when things go wrong, so I thought “okay, let me try to embrace that feedback.” So at the end of the flight, I shared my feedback with the cabin manager… and it instantly got awkward.
He got a little defensive, but then walked off. Moments later, the flight attendant who had provided the bad service approached me, and basically confronted me about my feedback. It was beyond awkward, because she was basically gaslighting me into thinking that I was wrong, and that her service was actually great. This interaction reminded me of why I’m an introvert, and avoid escalating situations.
A lack of grace in Singapore Airlines first class
Ah, remember Singapore Airlines’ “Megatop” Boeing 747s? What a joy they were to fly. I’m not even sure what year this goes back to, but I’d say somewhere around 2010 I was flying Singapore Airlines first class from New York to Frankfurt.
It was a mostly normal flight, except for the woman who was seated in the first row. I didn’t think much of it at first, until her entourage kept coming up to check on her. Then the guy seated across from me said to me (in Germany) “what a pig,” in reference to her (which in German is even more of an insult than it is in English).
Later I realized what was going on, and that this passenger was in fact “Gucci” Grace Mugabe, the (at this point former) first lady of Zimbabwe, who has quite the reputation, to put it mildly. Her entourage kept coming up to her, and she was incredibly rude to the crew. At one point she even sort of slammed her hand on the tray table and said “get me more caviar.”
Bottom line
Obviously not all flights are created equal, but the above are some of my most memorable flights over the years, and they stand out for a variety of reasons, ranging from safety to bad service. The Royal Jordanian and TAAG flights definitely stand out to me the most.
What are the worst flights that you’ve taken, and why?
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