My flight yesterday was SkyWest and had the same crew complement. However, I was offered soda and peanuts.

20 years or so ago my partner and I were the only two in FC on a NWA 747 (when they had FC) DTW-NRT -- no problem getting the meal of choice!

The first day of flights after 9/11 there were only 4 of us MSP-SUX, I was in first, they moved the other three up. That was a very interesting day for airtravel!

Wow...The GA knew you were the only person on the plane and you got special boarding. How early did that plane leave?

But airlines DO consistently cancel flights that have low passenger bookings. Not always -- as evidenced by this thread -- but it happens frequently. Often, there's reasons to fly an empty plane:

(1) the turnaround flight is full
(2) it's needed for positioning (for example, DL operated an L1011 and B763 on the late CVG-DTW throughout the 1990s... the flight was virtually always empty, but turned around as the morning DTW-ATL departure which normally departed with a solid load)

But airlines will cancel empty flights if they can make alternate arrangements. I've encountered this as a passenger many times... including an incident in the last year or so in which DL canceled an MD88 operating ATL-DTW as it was booked to just 30 passengers, and an empty plane (that had operated a charter) was sitting in DTW to operate the return leg. DL moved the 30 passengers to a later CRJ flight as well as an NW flight...

A lot of years ago (12 or so), I was the only PAX on an EVV/ATL flight on an EMB120. Of course I had the aisle in row 8 with lots of leg room, with a female Cap't and male FO, plus the FA. Got my drink at altitude and spent the rest of the flight trying hard not to spill it all over myself as went went through one thunderstorm after another, till just outside Hartsfield. The FA never did get up again till we were aboout to land. Ah, the good old days.

Seven Pax on an MD-11
 

In Jan 1999 I was flying CVG-PDX-NRT on DL (MD-11).

PDX was closed due to high winds and we diverted to SEA.
Had to wait almost 2 hours for the crew to get there from PDX.

Left with 7 passengers...all in first class (when there really was First Class).
Unfortunately, SEA ground ops could only cater the plane for domestic F.

I had used a system-wide upgrade (remember those) to sit in F.
Obviously, we all sat in F.

A few weeks after the trip I received an unsolicited $250 voucher from DL.

Although the experience originally posted by Dilemma, who launched this thread, most likely occurred on a Delta Air Lines flight, the topic of this thread is really more general in nature rather than being specific to Delta Air Lines or the SkyMiles frequent flier program.

Let us share this topic with FlyerTalk members who are members of other frequent flier programs in the TravelBuzz! forum.

Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta forum

I was the only passenger on a USAir 737 from BWI-CLT a couple of years ago. Tstorms all day, lots of delays, etc. The GA thought there was one more passenger coming but he/she was a no-show at departure time. I sat in my favorite 2D and the FA went through the entire shpiel.

It was actually kind of odd, as I knew both FA's would be watching every move I made.

My two JRB-EWR flights were very similar. I was the only passenger in both cases.

This has happened to me once flying AC from YUL to BDL. The flight is on a B1900 that usually departed from Gate 87. One night I headed to the airport to fly home and noticed that it was departing from Gate 76. The gate area was really empty, an A319 was parked at the gate and then they called for boarding. I assumed I was getting on a bus or something, but I was directed down the jetway onto the A319.

The FAs told me that they needed the aircraft in Hartford for some sort of sports team flying up to YUL the next morning. So I got to sit up front, I got a nice snack and had a whole team of FAs just for me.

Never the only PAX. We were 2 of @25 LAX-GMP on a 747-400 in April 1995. :cool:

I was one of about 30 or so on an AS 738 between GEG and SEA. And one of 4 or 5 people in FC.

1. This is the second time I've seen you mention this, and this time it is almost completely unrelated to the original discussion.

2. I believe this is catastrophic failure of a single engine during take off, is it not? What crash are you referring to? If it is the propeller fracture one, that's not a failure of the engine.

3. As I said last time, you are almost certainly still more likely to die driving a similar distance, so I wouldn't worry about it.

4. Next time anyone mentions a cheeseburger, make sure to point out how dangerous burger consumption is given that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US.

I would have been the only passenger on a USAir 737 from IAD-BOS, early one Saturday morning, but I would have had to throw my wife out of the plane. :D

A few months back was on a 777 with only around 20 odd passengers. Very weird feeling being on such a empty flight.