Passengers from American Airlines Flight 2354 from Los Angeles to Dallas-Fort Worth were bracing for a long night. Their plane was diverted to the regional airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Thursday due to severe thunderstorms. Trying to ease their inconvenience, the plane's captain, Jeff Raines, called the local Papa John's and ordered 40 fresh pizzas for delivery at Wichita Falls Municipal Airport (SPS). (edition.cnn.com) 更多...
He is not the first American Airline Captain to do this. As an American Airline fight attendant of over 30 yearsð³, I have seen several of our great crew to do this. So, thank you social media for finally posting! This made me ð
Unfortunately, management just blames the weather (per the air ticket contract), and does basically nothing. Sure would be nice if they cared about the passengers but with Northest, US Air, Continental, Pan Am, Eastern Airlines to name a few, competition doesn’t really exist anymore in the USA.
alek..????the main concern of any captain or dispatcher when there is a weather event,is the safety of the passengers and crew..aircraft are diverted if they are in the air,and there are severe storms at or around a destination, for very good reason..its not an arbitrary thing..those same flights,if possible, do continue to the designated destination if the weather improves enough to do so,and the slots are still available,as well as the crew duty time..its not a matter of "not caring", by the airline..you are misunderstanding diversions,delays and cancellations of flights..this article is with reference to a diversion and a caring crew member..it has nothing whatsoever to do with airline competition,and the airlines you mentioned who have merged into other carriers..
Sorry, but if you're stuck in a plane, it really doesn't matter what the cause is. Generally the airline isn't going to do diddly squat for the passengers!
Thank you for the scolding. I’m always happy to hear from an unintelligent bonehead who has a differing opinion but instead of offering an opinion chastises the person offering a different view. You must be a Democrat.
sorry you were offended alek..no, I am not a bonehead (college educated)and I was not "scolding"..your comment to me was rude, but thats fine.. ijust have a lot of airline experience and know what i am talking about..making comments when you are not knowledgeable on a speciic subject is not a good thing to do..have a nice day sir,whatever your political affiliations might be ..and by the way,there is a difference between "chastising" as you call it, and expressing knowledge/opinion on a subject posted on this site..you know if you read flight aware there are quite a variety of subjects/articles posted upon which to comment,whether its regarding new aircraft,specific airlines or even customer service and/or new routes..you are free to do so, as am I..
I fly 100-125 legs each year. I think this qualifies as knowledgeable. Your knowledge is your business. When weather delays occur, airlines in the USA do not do their best to accommodate passengers. This isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact.
I am sure those that gave my last post are US airline industry employees. Failing to accept the truth doesn’t change the truth folks. Have a fantastic day!
I have heard of instances like this before..that captain was not only promoting goodwill for american airlines to those stranded passengers,but he also must be a really nice person to think of others..the article does say something about ground personnel trying to arrange for a bus..i would imagine that was to take passengers from sps to dfw if they so chose to do that..happened to me once several years ago..not fun but better than an overnight in a chair at that particular airport..
If the storms were severe enough to toss around a plane weighing hundreds of tons, then you tip your hat to the captain and say thank you sir for saving my life tonight. He showed remarkable restraint and judgement and should be rewarded for his foresight.
Great job by the crew.....but since DFW is a modest 2 hour drive from SPS, I would have thought "to hell with the pizza" , jumped in a rental car, and been home shortly thereafter.
I lived in the DFW area for many years. The storms are insane. I once had to stop on the highway under an overpass in my Dodge RAM pickup because the wipers couldn't keep up and the wind was blowing everyone all over the road. In those situations it's better to just stay put.
I would imagine if the flight had to divert, then that must have been some real nasty a**d weather that I would not have wanted to drive through. Would be real easy to have a small rental vehicle body slammed by an 18-wheeler ot two in those conditions.
Would have gotten to the DFW area alright; in a body bag, then a coffin & planted six feet under when you arrived
With a diversion field less than 150nm from DFW I'd be confident this was a localized event. Regardless, nothing is worse than a Great Lakes whiteout and us folks don't have issues with those.
Let me guess - you're one of those people who drive highway speeds with your hazards on when it rains.
How thoughtful! It’s nice to hear something positive about an airline crew that’s in the news! That Captain made new friends for American, that day. Good job!
The ironic thing here is if American Airlines ordered the pizza's they would have charged the inconvenienced passengers $5.00 per slice plus a delivery charge. Good going Captain, I hope the cheapskates will reimburse you.
Got parked on active traffic way in LAX and Flight Attendant would not let me go whizz! I take medication and have to go very often so I time my trips to the leu from my Flight Aware app! After about 30 minutes of pain and me informing her it was in the head or the seat, she asked Cappy for permission!..Fantastic response and I was out of there in 2 minutes!...Good thing for then we set at the ramp another 30 "dry" minutes! Wished I would have gotten her name but was in a RUSH to connect, missed of course, but dry pants! Thank you young lady and Cappy for breaking a small rule! AAL! Always! Oh yeah, no upcharge !
Those 400$ or so are worth more than a 2 mins ad in prime time on TV for AA. When will airline companies learn that the way they usually deal with these kind of situation is so stupid?
Said that, sorry Sir, but I don't like Papa John's pizza... I'm italian :) :)
It is the act that counts and not the Pizza itself. THis was a plane Captain taking care of his passengers during a time of great stress fro many. THe pizzas made a stressful situation bearable.
I agree. It is the worst pizza I ever tried (I did not finish, it was SO bad), But, I, probably like you, have eaten New York pizza. There is NO substitute!
I can't believe all the negative comments, most of them incorrect and some incoherent! Are there that many morons attempting to decipher a good deed by the captain to something horrible? I'm glad I don't live in your miserable life!
He/she wouldn't have had a company card but I'm sure the airline will reimburse him. That's the way it has been in the past. Must have been a long delay, I would think.
no..airlines do not give a "company card" to flight crews as their hotel expenses are prepaid and they are given a "per diem" for layover meals..if a delay is going to be lengthy, and the flight has not yet been cancelled,sometimes the station has a "bank" of sandwiches or chips or treats along with beverages that are set aside to give out to "waiting" passengers..sps is small,and being diverted is stressful for all, so this captain was doing a real service for his passengers as I will bet they don't provide that..he will be reimbursed if the funds came from his own personal card...
Sounds like the crew did a great job and I'm glad the airline provided them hotel arrangements as was probably required by regulations. I'm surprised the passengers were not so accommodated.
Alek you must be a Republican. All about Wall Street. That Captain gets 100 points from me. I suppose you have never been stuck at a small town airport that closes at 10pm. You need to go to Bemidji MN you can get a taxi after 7PM, let alone food. Have you been to Wichita KS, I lived in that part of the world and the airport is not an LAX on the midwest.
Great AA Flight Crew 1 / American Airlines 0. AA management should take notice from this flight crew of how you're suppose to run an airline. Oh yeah I forgot it's not American Airlines it's US Airways in AA colors, management won't learn a thing.
FLY DELTA NEXT TIME, THEY WILL GIVE A MEAL CREDIT AND PUT YOU UP IN A HOTEL IF OVER NIGHT, SHOWS YOU UNITED AND AMERICAN COULD CARELESS ABOUT YOU, SHOWS YOU THE PILOT FELT GUILTY
mmichael....respectfuly to you sir...no airline gives passengers overnight vouchers for hotels for a diversion or a delay if related to weather conditions, which are not a controllable factor..they might give a meal voucher and rebook and tell passengers of an airport hotel that might give a discountif the passenger chooses to not wait,but they do not provide and pay for accommodations..not even delta..why insult the pilot and say he felt guilty? he was doing a kindness for people at a small airport that serves regional aircraft and not large ones.. from your comment I understand you have never been on a diverted aircrat,which encounters what are called "creeping delays" due to weather conditions..generally these flights do take off after a while, if the crew has not reached their maximum duty time..that applies to all airlines as well..