Way too often we hear about the negative news surrounding pilots and airlines—from passengers being removed from flights due to overbooking or miscommunication, to pilots or their crew being caught well over the legal limit of intoxication.
Back in January, a pilot was arrested on a British Airways flight after crew members smelled alcohol on his breath. Police were called and removed the pilot, causing a more than 2-hour delay.
Just this past July, low-cost airline flydubai discovered one of their pilots to be drunk, which resulted in a 10-hour flight delay.
Anyone who’s ever flown knows the best part of a flight is landing safely at their final destination. Delays are a drag as you’re now suddenly hours behind your schedule. Overnight cancellations are even worse as you now have to shell out more cash for your sleeping accommodations and unplanned meals.
That being said, that wasn’t the case for anyone aboard American Airlines flight 2354 this past week.
Flying from Los Angeles to Dallas Fort Worth in Texas, the plane had to divert to Wichita Falls due to severe thunderstorms in the area. The flight was canceled until the next morning, leaving the 159 passengers onboard understandably frustrated.
@AmericanAir Bad weather, holding, diverting AA now holds the biggest pizza @PapaJohns delivery order in Wichita Falls, TX when the Captain of #2354 took it upon himself to order 40 pizzas for the passengers after landing and the flight cancelled. He hand delivered them! pic.twitter.com/19S7NrpN73
— Joey Shankland (@jsraines10) September 7, 2018
Unbeknownst to them, the plane’s captain, Jeff Raines, was about to relieve some of their stress and frustrations in the form of pizza. Because who doesn’t feel better after pizza?
According to Newsweek, the pilot shelled out his own hard-earned money and provided the passengers with 40 pizzas from Papa Johns. In a video shared on Twitter, the pilot can be seen literally hand-delivering boxes of pizza to a hoard of waiting passengers. You can also hear the praises the passengers had to say about the man.
In response to the incident, American Airlines told Newsweek, “We are always proud of our crew members who take great care of our customers who fly on American Airlines. We are fortunate that our crew members are the best in the business.”
What an incredibly kind gesture from a captain who went above and beyond for his passengers. It’s a nice change to finally hear some positive news surrounding airlines and pilots.
As the cheese on top, American Airlines even provided the stranded passengers with hotel rooms for the night. It’s safe to say the entire airline as a whole soared above any expectations and delivered some amazing service to their customers.
