Their 5 minute airplane chat led to lasting love

You can take heed to this story on CNN’s Chance Encounters podcast.

On a latest transatlantic flight from Florida to London Heathrow, married flight attendants Hunter Smith-Lihas and John Lihas locked eyes throughout the aisle.

The two males smiled at one another, earlier than swiftly returning to serving champagne to top notch vacationers.

This shared smile was fleeting, however spoke volumes. And later, when Hunter and John have been on break on the identical time, the couple discovered themselves sitting within the onboard crew lounge, reflecting on the shared life and careers they’ve constructed collectively.

“I met you for five minutes on the airplane when I wasn’t even supposed to, and now we’re living in the city together, and you’re sitting across from me on the plane and we’re working together,” Hunter recollects saying to John.

“You never think when you meet someone for the first time like that, that it’d go this far. So it’s kind of surreal. And it honestly just makes you so happy, because you’re like, how did I get here?”

How Hunter and John acquired right here was by way of a sequence of sudden moments and choices beginning six years in the past, in 2017.

Back then, Hunter was simply referred to as Hunter Smith. He was in his early 20s and dealing as a gate agent for Spirit Airlines. He’d aspired to work in aviation since he’d beginning watching a flight attendant who chronicled her job on YouTube.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is the best job ever. I definitely want to do something like this,’” Hunter tells CNN Travel at present.

After he graduated faculty, Hunter secured a gate employees place in his dwelling metropolis of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The function was the proper foot within the aviation door.

Working the airport gate, Hunter interacted with lots of, if not 1000’s, of individuals every day. As a sociable individual, he at all times loved the conversations — nonetheless transient — with vacationers and airline employees.

But Spirit Airlines’ employment pool was so huge he not often met the identical flight attendants twice.

One morning, considered one of Hunter’s gate attendant coworkers requested if he might cross on some papers to the captain of a soon-to-depart Spirit flight, which was heading to Orlando, Florida.

This type of job, says Hunter, was “typically not my job, I did not normally do that.”

But off he went, strolling down the gangway and onto the plane. He handed on the paperwork to the captain after which waited for the all-clear to disembark. It didn’t come instantly, so Hunter stood by the door, biding his time.

“There was some sort of delay in him processing the paperwork,” he recollects.

Also standing on the entrance of the plane was one other man, the flight attendant taking care of the entrance half of the aircraft. This, in fact, was John.

Back then, John was a complete stranger to Hunter. Sure, they each labored for a similar airline — however so did 1000’s of different folks scattered throughout the United States.

“We had never seen each other prior to that day,” says John, who was in his late 20s on the time.

As they waited, Hunter and John met eyes for the primary time, they usually smiled at one another.

Hunter noticed a pin on John’s lanyard. Intriguingly, it seemed just like the insignia of one other airline.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, I love the pin on your lanyard. Where’d you get it?’ Because it was from another airline – I think it was a Delta Airlines pin,” recollects Hunter.

“I’m like, ‘Did you work for Delta before? Where did you get it from? And that’s how I started the conversation with him.”

The two males chatted backwards and forwards, speaking about their respective careers to this point, with John explaining he’d by no means really labored for Delta. Then John requested Hunter his title, and what his schedule seemed like for the remainder of the day. They launched one another correctly.

Still it was largely “just small talk,” as Hunter places it: “We never thought this small conversation was going to go anywhere after.”

“It was very short,” echoes John. “The plane had to leave.”

After about 5 minutes, the paperwork was processed and the plane acquired the go forward to depart. Hunter mentioned a fast goodbye to John and acquired off the aircraft. John watched Hunter head again down the gangway.

“I never thought I would see him again,” says John.

Over the remainder of his shift that day, as he ushered passengers on and off airplanes, checked hand baggage and made boarding bulletins, Hunter stored replaying the brief airplane interplay with John in his head.

“There’s so many faces and people you meet every single day at the airport. But I don’t know. I just had a weird feeling about this guy — a good feeling,” says Hunter

That night, he acquired out his laptop computer and Googled “John Lihas.” A Facebook account with that title popped up instantly, and there was John, smiling broadly within the profile image.

“I just wanted to Facebook stalk him,” says Hunter, laughing. “I didn’t even think to add him at the time. But then once I started scrolling through his profile, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to do it. I’m going to send a friend request. I’m going to see what happens. If anything, we’ll just be friends, coworkers, distant coworkers.’ But I didn’t really think anything was going to happen.”

Hunter hit “add friend.”

The notification popped up on John’s mobile phone simply as he reached his resort room in Houston, Texas. He’d labored two flights that day, and was wanting ahead to placing his ft up. Then he noticed the pal request.

John wouldn’t often settle for an invitation from somebody he didn’t actually know. But he’d actually loved assembly Hunter, even when their interplay was brief and candy.

“So I accepted, just because I was like, ‘Hmm, it could be something you never know,’” says John.

Then he despatched a message to his new Facebook pal.

“Do you always stalk your flight attendants?” he wrote.

“It just started from there,” recollects John. “One sentence became pages and pages of just talking back and forth.”

Over the following few days, John and Hunter messaged usually. They talked about their households, their ambitions and their shared love of journey.

“The craziest part about it was once we started talking, we realized how many coincidences there were in our life. Things were so similar,” says Hunter.

They each had divorced dad and mom, and coincidentally each had one guardian who lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and one who lived in Tampa, Florida. And they shared related hobbies and a optimistic outlook on life — to not point out a shared career and keenness for touring.

After a couple of week of messaging, John despatched Hunter an sudden query.

“Hey, I know this is kind of forward — you can totally tell me if you’re not comfortable with this idea,” he mentioned. “But I have a layover in Myrtle Beach. I think you should fly down here. I’d love to fly you down here to have dinner with you and get to know you more.”

Beachside Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina, is a 1 hour 30 minute flight from Pittsburgh. It’s a brief flight, within the grand scheme of issues, however a good distance for a primary date.

Hunter debated whether or not or to not go. Would or not it’s loopy? Was it secure? He barely knew John. But he couldn’t shake that “good feeling” he’d had when he first met John on the airplane. Hunter determined to go for it.

He figured he ought to inform somebody about his plans — simply in case. He dominated out his dad and mom (“I thought they would think I was a little bit crazy”) however stuffed in his roommate. Then he headed to the airport.

John was nervous, too. He’d put himself on the market, and wasn’t certain how it will pan out (“I really don’t do that,” he says of the spontaneous invite). And he didn’t inform anybody, besides the flight crew he was working with en path to Myrtle Beach, who have been all excited for him.

But any nervousness melted away when John and Hunter met on the airport, and went out to dinner collectively. Their connection was simply as thrilling as that first second on the airplane. The dialog simply nearly as good because the messages on-line.

Later, the 2 walked hand-in-hand on the boardwalk. As first dates go, it was “magical,” says Hunter. After all of the nerves, all the things labored “perfectly,” says John.

Still, because the 36 hours wound to a detailed, the glow dampened a bit bit.

“I was kind of sad, actually,” recollects Hunter. “Because we were living in two different cities. I didn’t know the next time I was going to see him.”

But quickly a sample developed — each time John’s flight schedule discovered him in Pittsburgh, he’d hang around with Hunter. And each time John had longer layovers in different cities, Hunter would come and meet him.

“Even though it was long distance, we still made it work,” says John.

Hunter thinks the space really helped the connection blossom.

“We actually had time to miss each other. We had time to plan more special things together. It wasn’t like we were just going to each other’s house every day,” he says. “I actually liked the long distance part at the time, because it gave us time to really appreciate our time with each other.”

Over the following a number of months, Hunter and John shared some implausible moments collectively — from a visit to Los Angeles the place they spent two days exploring town, to Hunter’s birthday, when John shocked him with a visit to Disney World in Florida.

There have been harder moments too. At one level, Hunter and John stopped speaking for a couple of weeks. They have been each harassed and overwhelmed by work and another points of their private lives. They weren’t mad at one another, however maintaining the connection from afar felt difficult for the primary time. But they labored via it.

“Then, everything kind of just went back to how it was and I think it was better than ever after that,” says Hunter.

About a 12 months after he’d first met John, Hunter was employed by Spirit Airlines to work as a flight attendant. He was excited to go away the gate behind, delighted that his aviation dream had lastly come true.

And with this thrilling alternative got here one other huge step — Hunter and John determined to maneuver in collectively.

Now that they have been each touring for work, the couple figured they might reside just about wherever. They determined to maneuver to a brand new metropolis collectively: Detroit, Michigan.

“That’s kind of when things really stepped it up to the next level,” says Hunter. “And even then I still couldn’t believe, ‘Wow, this is crazy how this all happened and everything fell into place perfectly. We’re working at the same job now. We’re working in the same base. Our families are in the same place.’ It just all felt like everything fell perfectly into place.”

Moving to a brand new metropolis, and transferring in collectively, was an enormous change. But the couple knew they needed to “take a chance,” as Hunter places it, in the event that they wished their relationship to progress.

“It was an adjustment,” says Hunter. “But I think overall, it was more of an adventure.”

On their days off, Hunter and John explored Detroit collectively, discovering new eating places collectively, adorning their residence and making new buddies.

Sometimes it was powerful to align their schedules. Hunter, as a brand new rent, was on name, so any day might find yourself on any flight. Then, one morning, Hunter acquired notified that he’d booked a visit, and was despatched the crew manifest. He scanned via the names after which stopped brief.

“I saw John’s name on there,” Hunter recollects. “And I ran into the living room from the bedroom. I was like, ‘John, you’re never going to believe it. Guess what trip I got today?’ And he was thinking I’d got something international or something really great — I was like, ‘No, I’m on the trip with you!’”

That first shared workday was very particular. The couple savored the time collectively.

“It felt nice going to work together and actually spending three full days together. And spending time at the layover hotel together, eating dinner together,” recollects John.

“When you work together, it’s almost like you’re on vacation,” says Hunter. “Yeah, you are working through the day. But once you’re done with the day, you’re at the hotel, you can go to the pool.”

Flying collectively for the primary time additionally felt like a momentous step. Here they have been, working a Spirit Airlines flight collectively, the place a 12 months beforehand they’d been strangers on one other Spirit plane.

“You go back to that first time you met,” says Hunter.

Months handed and the couple settled into life in Michigan. Conversations about marriage began to happen “a little bit here and there,” as Hunter recollects.

The two had a visit to Puerto Rico developing — John was working and Hunter was coming alongside for a trip. As they mapped out the journey, Hunter began to assume this could possibly be the proper alternative to ask John to marry him.

He spoke to John’s mom about his plans to suggest.

“I really love your son. I really think I want to spend the rest of my life with him,” Hunter advised her.

He additionally spoke with one of many couple’s mutual buddies, a fellow Spirit Airlines flight attendant who’d be on the journey too — he wished to have a pal on aspect who might doc the proposal when it got here.

As for John, he had no thought what was coming.

On the second day of the journey, John and Hunter have been strolling alongside a sandy seashore collectively in San Juan. The different crew member was armed along with her digicam telephone, able to seize the second.

“We were just walking around doing the touristy stuff. And I remember I had a coffee in my hand, I was looking out in the water, and then I turned around and he’s on one knee,” says John. “I was just completely shocked, and of course I said yes.”

“We were both so happy,” says Hunter.

Straight away, John referred to as his mom, he was crying joyful tears and so was she. That’s when John realized that she’d recognized what was coming.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is actually happening.’ It all clicked, like the rest of my life is coming together perfectly.”

Hunter and John deliberate a small wedding ceremony, placing the cash they’d have spent on bigger celebrations in the direction of a honeymoon.

“So we did a super small wedding on the West Coast. We brought our parents, two friends,” says Hunter, who modified his title following the marriage, changing into Hunter Smith-Lihas.

“It was beautiful,” says John.

Hunter and John’s households get on rather well, and at all times get pleasure from spending time collectively and with their respective sons-in-law. “John’s mom and my mom are great together. John’s dad and my dad are great together. I love all his cousins, his nieces,” says Hunter.

“My dad loves you,” John tells Hunter. “My grandmother, who recently passed in October, she was an old-school Greek person and she came to America when she was just 18. And when she met Hunter, she fell in love with him.”

“It’s very nice that we all get along, our families just love each other.”

After the marriage, John and Hunter headed off on what Hunter calls “a lavish European vacation.” The journey additionally coincided with John’s thirtieth birthday, so there was lots to have a good time. En route, Hunter and John have been upgraded to top notch. They loved flying in model — and the actual fact they have been those being served, for as soon as.

“It was the middle of winter. And when we landed in Paris, it was snowing. We saw all the snow and we went to the Eiffel Tower and there was snow everywhere. It was so magical,” says John.

Today, John and Hunter nonetheless work collectively, though they’re not at Spirit Airlines and now reside in Florida. A couple of years in the past, the couple each utilized for jobs with one other main US airline. They have been eager for brand spanking new profession alternatives and extra alternatives to journey internationally.

It was a dangerous resolution to make simply as aviation was getting again on its ft within the wake of the pandemic. For an extended stretch in 2020, each John and Hunter have been grounded and not sure when — or if — they’d ever return to the skies.

“Not only was it a global health pandemic, but now you’re out of a job for the time being, too. So it was just a lot. It was really scary at the time,” says Hunter.

“But we grew together, we made work,” says John.

It was John who first instructed transferring to a brand new airline. When he voiced the thought aloud, Hunter echoed it again to him.

“We both just wanted more, because Spirit only flew to the US, a little bit of South America and the Caribbean. Whereas where we’re at now services all the continents except Antarctica,” says Hunter. “So that was another huge step we took together.”

Before they utilized, Hunter and John talked about what may occur if considered one of them acquired the job, and the opposite didn’t. “We decided, if one of us gets it, that’s great. We’ll be fine. We’ll make it work,” says Hunter.

“We believe in each other, that’s the thing,” says John.

The couple utilized on the identical day. They interviewed on the identical day. And in the long run, they each acquired employed on the identical day and started coaching collectively.

At their present airline, John and Hunter have the identical degree of seniority, to allow them to bid for a similar flights. This makes it straightforward for them to coordinate their schedules and work the identical flights.

Nowadays they usually work on massive, extensive physique plane, so that they don’t at all times see one another a lot through the flight.

“If one of us is in economy, and the other is first class, we definitely see each other a lot less as opposed to when you’re working in the same cabin,” says Hunter. “But I mean, there’s always like a time where I can just pop up there and say hi, or vice versa, John can come back and say hi.”

And, in fact, there are these moments — like on the latest flight to London — the place they’re each working in the identical cabin, and might watch each other at work, excelling at their jobs, and share the odd secret smile.

Hunter’s additionally adopted within the footsteps of the flight attendant vlogger who first launched him to the aviation career and began documenting his job on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. He hopes his content material may encourage or assist others eager to work within the business. Both Hunter and John plan to work up within the air for so long as they’ll.

“This is what I’ve dreamt about since I was six years old,” says John. “I don’t see myself doing anything else. I will be a flight attendant forever until I decide to retire.”

“I think for both of us, this is our career. This is our lifelong career,” says Hunter. “Because what other job can you say, ‘Oh, well on Monday, I’m going to New York and Tuesday I’m going to Africa.’ There’s always the element of surprise and adventure with this job.”

Whatever the long run brings, for Hunter and John, probably the most memorable on-the-job surprises will at all times be assembly one another.

“I saw so many different faces every day, it’s hard to see the same face twice. And then suddenly, he comes along. And now it’s been six years later, and I’m still seeing him,” says Hunter.

“I never thought this would happen to me, to be honest, never — even coming across so many people day to day, coworkers, passengers,” says John. “I always believe it was always meant to be.”

“It almost makes me teary-eyed,” provides Hunter. “When I look again, I simply by no means in one million years thought that that is the place we collectively could be after that likelihood encounter. It simply makes me nearly emotional, it makes me wish to cry. It’s simply an amazing happiness.

It simply goes to point out you by no means know who you’re going to fulfill, when and the place, you simply by no means know who that one individual goes to be.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article was initially revealed in May 2023. It was republished in July 2025 to incorporate a brand new episode of CNN’s Chance Encounters podcast centered on Hunter and John’s love story