Hunter Smith-Lihas and John Lihas, who are married flight attendants, made eye contact across the aisle on a recent transatlantic journey from Florida to London Heathrow.
Before quickly returning to delivering champagne to First Class passengers, the two men exchanged smiles.
This little smile that we all exchanged spoke a lot. Hunter and John later found themselves sitting in the crew lounge during a time when they were both on break, reflecting on the shared life and careers they had developed.
Hunter reportedly told John, “We’re living in the city together, and you’re sitting across from me on the airline, and we’re working together. I met you for five minutes on the aeroplane when I wasn’t even supposed to.
“You never anticipate how things will develop when you meet someone for the first time. So, it’s a little strange. And you’re actually just so excited about it because you’re wondering, “How did I get here? “
Hunter and John arrived here as a result of a string of unanticipated events and choices beginning in 2017, six years prior.
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Hunter was a Spirit Airlines gate agent at the time, in his early 20s. Since he began following a travel vlogger who documented her life as a flight attendant on YouTube, he had longed to work in the aviation industry.
“Oh, my gosh, this is the coolest job ever, I thought. I would probably like to carry out this,” Hunter declares to CNN Travel today.
Hunter obtained a gate staff employment at his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, following his college graduation. It was the ideal way to get your foot in the aviation door.
Hunter interacted with hundreds or perhaps thousands of individuals every day while working the airport gate. Being affable, he always took pleasure in having brief chats with passengers and airline employees.
But because there were so many flight attendants working for Spirit Airlines, he rarely encountered them again.
One morning, a fellow gate agent asked Hunter if he could give certain papers to the pilot of a Spirit flight that was about to take off and was bound for Orlando, Florida.
According to Hunter, “typically, that was not my job, I did not normally do that.”
But he continued on, making his way down the gangway and into the plane. He gave the captain the documentation and then awaited the go-ahead to disembark. Hunter waited by the door because it didn’t arrive right away.
“There was some sort of delay in him processing the paperwork,” he remembers.
John, the flight attendant in charge of the front half of the jet, was also positioned at the front of the aircraft.
John was a complete unknown to Hunter at the time. Yes, they both worked for the same airline, but so did tens of thousands of other individuals spread out across the country.
John, who was in his late 20s at the time, claims that they had never met before that day.
Hunter and John finally locked eyes as they waited, grinning at one another.
John’s lanyard had a pin, which Hunter noticed. It was intriguing because it resembled the logo of another airline.
“Oh, I love the pin on your lanyard, I say. What’s the source? Because it was an airline pin from another company—I believe it was a Delta Airlines pin—Hunter recalls.
“I ask, ‘Did you previously work for Delta? What source did you use? And that’s how I introduced myself to him.
The two guys chatted back and forth, talking about their respective jobs so far, with John explaining he’d never truly worked for Delta. Then John asked Hunter his name, and what his schedule looked like for the rest of the day.
Hunter says, “You know, just small talk.” “We never imagined this brief conversation would lead anywhere after,”
It was brief, says John in agreement. “The aircraft had to depart.”
The paperwork was processed and the plane was given the all-clear to take off after roughly five minutes. Hunter quickly said John farewell before exiting the aircraft. John observed Hunter descend the gangway once more.
John claims, “I never thought I would see him again.”
Hunter remained thinking about his brief encounter with John on the jet as he escorted people onto and off of aircraft, checked hand bags, and announced boarding times for the remainder of his shift that day.
Every day at the airport, you run into so many different faces and people. But I’m not sure. I just had this weird, nice vibe about this guy,” recalls Hunter.
He pulled out his laptop that evening and Googled “John Lihas.” Instantly, a Facebook account with that name appeared, and the profile photo was of John, who was grinning widely.
Hunter chuckles, “I just wanted to Facebook stalk him. “At the time, I didn’t even consider including him. But after I had already begun to look through his profile, I thought, “I’m just going to do it.” I’m going to request your friendship. I’m going to wait and see. We’ll essentially just work together as remote coworkers and pals. However, I didn’t truly believe anything would occur.
Hunter selected “add friend.”
John arrived at his Houston, Texas hotel room just as the notice appeared on his mobile device. He was looking forward to relaxing after working two flights that day. The friend request appeared next. Normally, John wouldn’t accept an invitation from a stranger. Nevertheless, despite their brief encounter, he had thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Hunter.
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