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====== tripscan ======
Their five minute airplane chat led to lasting love [[https://trip36.win/|tripskan]]
On a recent transatlantic flight from Florida to London Heathrow, married flight attendants Hunter Smith-Lihas and John Lihas locked eyes across the aisle.

The two men smiled at each other, before swiftly returning to serving champagne to first class travelers.

This shared smile was fleeting, but spoke volumes. And later, when Hunter and John were on break at the same time, the couple found themselves sitting in the onboard crew lounge, reflecting on the shared life and careers they’ve built together.

“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 recalls 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?”

Airplane meeting
Honeymooning: They went to Paris for their Honeymoon. Here they are touring the Louvre. Hunter calls the trip a "lavish European vacation." 
Traveling together: Today, the couple live together in Florida. They're still flight attendants, now for another major US airline, and enjoy traveling and working together. Here they are on vacation in Colombia.
Airplane meeting: John Lihas, left, and Hunter Smith-Lihas, right, met while working for Spirit Airlines in 2016. They had a brief conversation and then went their separate ways.
Airplane meeting: John Lihas, left, and Hunter Smith-Lihas, right, met while working for Spirit Airlines. They had a brief conversation and then went their separate ways.
Hunter Smith-Lihas
First date: On their first date, Hunter flew from his home in Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to meet John, who was there on a layover. Here's the couple that evening.
Long distance: John and Hunter lived in different cities, but traveled to meet one another when they could. Here they are on a trip to Los Angeles during this period.
Growing relationship: "I actually liked the long distance part at the time, because it gave us time to really appreciate our time with each other," Hunter tells CNN Travel today.
Surprise trip: For Hunter's birthday, John surprised him with a trip to Disney World in Florida.
New adventures: After just over a year of long distance, John and Hunter moved in together and both moved to Detroit. "It was an adjustment," says Hunter. "But I think overall, it was more of an adventure."
Puerto Rico proposal: On a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hunter asked John to marry him. "It all clicked, like the rest of my life is coming together perfectly," recalls John.
Honeymooning: They went to Paris for their Honeymoon. Here they are touring the Louvre. Hunter calls the trip a "lavish European vacation." 
Traveling together: Today, the couple live together in Florida. They're still flight attendants, now for another major US airline, and enjoy traveling and working together. Here they are on vacation in Colombia.
Airplane meeting: John Lihas, left, and Hunter Smith-Lihas, right, met while working for Spirit Airlines in 2016. They had a brief conversation and then went their separate ways.
First date: On their first date, Hunter flew from his home in Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to meet John, who was there on a layover. Here's the couple that evening.
Photos: How two flight attendants fell in love on an airplane
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How Hunter and John got here was via a series of unexpected moments and decisions starting six years ago, in 2017.

Back then, Hunter was just known as Hunter Smith. He was in his early 20s and working as a gate agent for Spirit Airlines. He’d aspired to work in aviation since he’d starting 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 today.

After he graduated college, Hunter secured a gate staff position in his home city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The role was the perfect foot in the aviation door.

Working the airport gate, Hunter interacted with hundreds, if not thousands, of people each day. As a sociable person, he always enjoyed the conversations — however brief — with travelers and airline staff.

But Spirit Airlines’ employment pool was so big he rarely met the same flight attendants twice.

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

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

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