15 Stories From Planes and Airports That Deserve Their Own TV Show

For some people, flying on an airplane is routine, while for others, it is a true ordeal. But one thing is certain — really unexpected situations can happen in the air and airports, from amusing dialogues to absurd coincidences. We put together 15 stories that show traveling by an iron bird is always a ride full of unexpected twists.

• They were serving food on the plane, and my fellow passenger declined. Then, when they started serving again, she refused once more. But she kept looking at my food with hungry eyes. I asked her, “It’s a long flight. Are you on a diet?”
  She blushed and admitted that she didn’t have money for lunch. You should have seen her genuine childlike surprise when I told her that the meal was included in the ticket price... © Trudowick / Pikabu

• I was recently flying on a plane next to a 10-year-old girl. I’m 19. So the girl started asking me where I was flying, where I study... I thought, “What a nice, talkative little girl.”
  Then she starts asking me about my boyfriend. And at the end of the conversation, she suddenly declares, “Well, I’m going to steal him away from you.” © Overheard / Ideer
• Just now, on the plane, I asked a man to help me take down my suitcase. And his woman started freaking out, saying I could take it down myself, then pushed the guy away and shoved the suitcase back onto the shelf. © klevtsova_jane / X
• I’m flying on a plane with my boyfriend, he’s asleep, I’m reading. The plane is descending for landing, I start nudging him to wake up, but he doesn’t wake up. I nudge harder, poke him in the stomach. No reaction.
  A lump in my throat, complete confusion. I manage to force out, “Help!” And then this rascal opens his eyes and laughs. © Overheard / VK

• I once flew on the La Paz to Mexico City flight. Next to me was a man who, throughout the entire flight, kept pulling sheets of paper from his briefcase, sssslooooowly tearing them into thin strips, and placing them in a paper bag. And upon exiting the plane, the man shoved that bag under the seat. I was deeply impressed. © villiss / ADME
• Guy in his twenties gets on the plane with a strange looking carry on; it looks like one of those pizza delivery pouches. He sits next to me, and I discover it is a pizza delivery pouch. He has about 5 large pizzas in it.
  So I say, “Like pizza much?” And he replies, “No, but this is a long flight (BOS to LAX), and I can sell this stuff for $5 a slice.” So we take off, and the smell of pizza floats through the cabin. And people start buying his pizza!
  When we arrive at LAX, he had just about paid for his flight with his pizza! © Thomas Barnidge / Quora

• Transatlantic flight, 3 a.m. The cabin lights are off, everyone’s relaxed, silence. I’m watching a movie on the tablet, my wife is dozing by the window. A slight jolt, she wakes up, looks out the porthole into the pitch darkness and unchanging scene, turns to me with genuine indignation, and says, “I don’t understand, why are we standing?!” © TeslaCat / Pikabu
• I was flying solo into Orlando. The woman next to me was so excited about her new boyfriend’s boat and was going on about how excited she was for this trip. I nodded and put my headphones in and about 1 minute later, she grabbed the cord on my headphone and pulled it out of my ear so she could blather on about it... I asked her if she had lost her mind. © _joeBone_ / Reddit

• When I was 4 years old, I flew on a plane for the first time. The time came for food service, and I saw cola. My favorite cola, which my parents forbid me from having. So, I asked how much I could drink, and unfortunately, the steward replied that there was no limit on drinks.
  For the next 3 hours, the call button lit up every 5 minutes — I kept asking for cola. Eventually, the flight attendant couldn’t take it anymore and told me to go to the galley and pour it myself. So I went and poured some. The flight attendants in the galley were a bit shocked. © Overheard / Ideer
• I was flying with my 5-year-old daughter. She was flipping through the magazine that was in the seat pocket in front of her and then whispered to me, “Look! I found this!” At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes, but the 3 100-dollar bills were real. © Overheard / Ideer

• Purchased an electronic ticket in advance, went through electronic check-in. I take my seat on the plane. A big, unkempt-looking man comes up to me and starts yelling that I’m in his seat. I say, well, let’s take a look. Maybe I made a mistake, there’s nothing wrong with that.
  We compared tickets, and we have the same seat. Then a flight attendant comes, apologizes for the mix-up, and moves me to business class! What a stroke of luck! © Overheard / Ideer
• Recently, I ended up with “overbooking” on a plane — when several people are booked for one seat. A lady caused a scene — she wants the prime reserved seat, which happens to be next to mine. But it’s occupied. And actually everything is occupied.
  Then I remember that in cases of overbooking, they might seat you in business class. The lady doesn’t listen to anyone, making a scene. To resolve the conflict, I offered her my seat.
  When she grudgingly settled in, she realized a couple of things. First: I was seated in business class. And second: her seat’s backrest didn’t recline. © Overheard / Ideer

• I’m afraid to fly, but I needed urgently to travel to another city. At the check-in, I met a man: a bald, funny guy. When boarding the plane, I asked him if he was afraid of flying.
  “Don’t you know? Every second bald American is Bruce Willis, and if anything happens, I’ll take the controls myself.” After that, flying wasn’t so scary. © Overheard / Ideer
• On my flight today, I woke up from a nap, and an attendant was walking down the aisle holding a pug, saying, “We found this pug. Whose pug is this?” And for 3 hours we all just took turns holding the mystery pug until a man in the last row woke up and was like, “Roscoe?!” © laurapeek_ / X

• A friend is flying to LA from New York, probably about 10 years ago. Everyone is comfortable, eating their in-flight meals and watching something terrible on the little TVs.
  The captain comes on the intercom starting into his, “And if you look to the right we can see...” When all of a sudden he screams, “Oh no!!!” And the intercom goes dead.
  Now everyone stops eating immediately and looks around at each other, wondering if something horrific is about to happen. There are a few nervous swears and some panic. Then the intercom sounds again with, “Hi, this is your co-pilot speaking. I’m really sorry, but the captain just spilled coffee all over himself.” © campmonkey / Reddit

Well, are you ready for the next flight? What stories from airplanes and airports happened to you? Maybe your story deserves its own TV show! Share it in the comments!

And here are more airplane stories.