Hero Pilot Throws Pizza Party for Passengers After Flight Gets Stranded

May 27, 2015

Yesterday, a Delta flight scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Atlanta was diverted to Knoxville after torrential rains in Georgia prevented the aircraft from landing, stranding passengers on the tarmac in Tennessee for hours.

How did the pilot appease the disgruntled and hungry passengers?

He ordered pizza, of course.

The 2 p.m. Delta flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta was supposed to land at 4 p.m. but instead was diverted to Knoxville, Tennessee because of the storm, leaving passengers stuck for hours in the aircraft. Passenger Khoury Ashooh told the Daily Mail:

“We circled in the air for a while [and] then the captain said we were diverting to Knoxville because of storms over the airport in Atlanta.”

Pizza from Pizza Hut delivered to the plane via a baggage cart immediately cheered passengers up.

Naturally, passengers took to social media to let others know of the unexpected delivery.

When Vasquez’s tweet went viral, he added:

Another passenger, @BillyTheKidWitt, tweeted:

The Philadelphia to Atlanta flight finally landed in Atlanta three hours late, a little after 7 p.m. It wasn’t the only Delta flight that had a pizza party. Because Atlanta is a hub for Delta, the bad weather hit many other Delta flights, and Delta fed its passengers with similar feasts as well.

And it turns out that the pizza is part of Delta’s plans to keep passengers happy during delays. Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant told CNN:

“It’s part of an effort company-wide when weather disrupts our operation to get food and beverages to delayed customers.”

Daniel Baker, head of Flightaware.com, thought Delta’s gesture was a successful way to deal with dreaded flight delays. In an email cited by CNN, Baker wrote:

“A meal can go a long way to calming nerves, and it raises the observation that there were far fewer incidents of air rage when airlines gave out food and cocktails for free!”

Or Xanax or Attivan.

Just saying.

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