Delta Passenger Gets 160-Seat Jet to Self
Ryan Boyd June 24, 2016
Delta Air Lines passenger Steven Schneider was given the entire plane to himself on a flight to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) due to every other passenger being rebooked onto different flights due to delays. Delta attempted to contact Schneider by Schneider by phone to offer him a different option home, but was unable to reach him due to having an incorrect contact number. Schneider was informed that he could take a different flight or stay with his original booking, and he chose to maintain his current flight plans, making him the sole passenger aboard the 160-seat MD-90. “At first I felt really bad, because I didn’t want the plane to only make the trip because of me,” Schneider said. “But after talking to a flight attendant at the gate, she said the plane needed to go back to Atlanta anyway.”
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[Photo: Twitter]
Not quite the same (maybe better): entire F cabin to myself on an EK A380 DXB-BCN. Frequent flyer nirvana.
Not unheard of. In the 90s I got an early AM call from Delta telling me my flight from John Wayne Airport to EWR via ATL was cancelled. I and a business colleague were told to take a taxi to LAX, for which I would be reimbursed. When we got to LAX I could find no indication of what flight we were rescheduled on. After a 5 or 6 hour wait we were put on a nearly empty L-1011 to ATL. I was at the top status tier with Delta and found myself in an otherwise empty first class. They offered to move my colleague up, too, but he wound up spending the whole time in the galley talking with the FAs, an understandable choice, him being under 30 and single as were they. Later, when the captain strolled back, I asked about the strange doings. He said that the aircraft had a maintenance issue the night before but passengers had been put on other flights. Still, the plane had to be ferried back to ATL. I don't know about the crew/passenger count but he said that there were "11 souls on board". With 3 in the cockpit and 3 FAs that I saw there must have been another 3 pax rattling around in coach. Not surprisingly, service was very good but we didn't get to EWR until the next day after being put up in an airport hotel.