Have You Ever Ran Into Someone Famous On A Flight?

[aap519]

Joe's thread about airport stories got me thinking about anyone famous you may have run into on a flight.

I really don't know many actors names, nor would I be normally able to recognize one in public. We were boarding a flight from Paris to Chicago and we got stalled for quite a while in the first class section. I looked down to my right and I was standing next to Dennis Quaid who was seated. The only reason I knew who he was is because I liked the movie Wyatt Earp. I started talking to him and he was a real nice guy.

 

[Amy]

We once saw Richard Simmons being Richard Simmons at a gate at JFK.
A few years ago I looked up from my book when I was waiting for a flight from Boston to Pittsburgh, to see John Kerry sitting next to me. We had a wonderful conversation, he asked me several questions about myself and we talked about teaching and the pressures faced by so many families these days.

 

[GailS]

For any cycling fans - especially those currently watching the Tour de France... in September 2013 I was on my way to Florence, via CDG in Paris. We had to take a bus from the terminal to the flight to Florence. Who gets on and stands next to us but Christian Vande Velde. He was on his way to Florence for the world championships in cycling. My husband used to do minor races and do rides like the New Hampshire Mount Washington ride (twice) and is big into cycling. We talked to him a bit on the bus as well as when waiting for our luggage in Florence. We then saw him ride through Florence as part of the team time trial for team Garmin.

 

[Susie L]

I was flying SWA from LAX to OAK. Geena Davis was in the boarding line right behind me. I was struck by how tall she is! I took an aisle seat, and she was taking the seat behind. She was putting a bag in the overhead bin, when the bag slipped and bonked me on my head. It startled me of course, but she was very apologetic and gracious, and we ended up having a good laugh over it.

 

[DDTraveler]

Mr. T was once on a flight I was on. They announced it on the speaker during the flight.

 

[Linda Yoder]

I was on a flight from Pisa to NYC a number of years ago and Caroline Kennedy and her daughter were sitting in the row in front of us in Business.

 

[scottw]

We flew business class from Toronto to Madrid last summer, and Chris Hadfield was right in front of my wife. Being Canadian, he's pretty much an icon for us at this point. It was our nephew's first trip to Europe, so a great way to kick off the trip.

 

[ncp]

Years ago we boarded a flight where we had to walk through first class to get to our coast seats and Jon Bon Jovi was just getting into his seat and I had to squeeze by him and brushed against his back side. So now my music claim to fame is that I touched his butt.

 

[Karen Frerichs]

A few years ago, I was upgraded to first class on a flight from Nice to JFK (I was traveling with the pilot's sister). When I got up to walk around a bit and stretch, I noticed lots of empty seats in a block in the middle... and there in the very middle was Sidney Poitier. Total thrill!

 

[Anubis]

Tom Bradley, Nat King Cole, Winnie Mandela, Zsa Zsa Gabor, george hamilton,

 

[scottw]

Tom Bradley, Nat King Cole, Winnie Mandela, Zsa Zsa Gabor, george hamilton,

That must have been one heck of a flight!

 

[Ian Sutton]

I once shared a flight with the British Dodgeball team travelling to the world championships in Sweden.

That's about as obscure as it gets!

 

[Christine]

Vincent Cassel, Air France flight from Paris to Rome, March 2016. Taller than I thought he'd be.