“Twilight in Canyon Blue” by Jerry Anderson
|
In an act of extraordinary kindness, a Southwest Airlines pilot delayed his plane by 12 minutes to ensure a passenger would be able to say goodbye to his murdered grandson.
The man’s three-year-old grandchild had been killed by his daughter’s live-in boyfriend in Denver and was due to be taken off life support ahead of donating his organs…
Having been in Los Angeles on business, the man’s wife had arranged for him to transfer at Tucson airport in Arizona onto a flight bound for Denver to be with his bereaved daughter…
Yet, despite arriving at Los Angeles International Airport two hours before his flight was due to depart, lengthy check-in lines meant he faced a race against time to board on schedule.
Even after sprinting from the security checkpoint in his socks, the grandfather still arrived at the departure gate 12 minutes late…
According to a letter written to travel blog Elliott.org by the man’s wife, he was greeted by the pilot and ticketing agent with the words: ‘Are you Mark? We held the plane for you and we’re so sorry about the loss of your grandson…’
The letter continues: ‘As my husband walked down the Jetway with the pilot, he said, “I can’t thank you enough for this.”
‘The pilot responded with, “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”’
Thanks to the kindness of the pilot, the man was able to reach his daughter in Denver and bid farewell to his grandson…
A Southwest spokesperson said the airline was ‘proud’ of the pilot’s behaviour.
My kind of pilot. My kind of airline. Rare enough that a corporation remembers that human beings are the source of their income.
Thanks, Mr. Fusion.
My daughter was gravely ill for an extended period of time. The only airline that allowed me to buy discounted tickets at the last moment so I can be with her during the treatments (on several sparate occasions) was Delta. Southwest told me that they didn’t offer any discounts for family health emergencies.
#27 – 737s don’t have a lot of power to spare. Most models can’t run much AC from the APU (the little engine in the tail that provides electrical power on the ground).
If they had to wait with the main engines off and weren’t on ground power at the gate they might not have had much choice.
You know, there are “pro’s and con’s” to every action taken. The one late guy is one issue, but how many were made late/missed a connection as the result of this airline not running on time?
YES–the attention should be drawn to the pre-boarding process and why didn’t SW usher the guy thru that?
Stories OF ALL KINDS that only follow one issue without any balance are puff pieces. Like pastry, a few here and there are ok, but really, where’s the beef?
Awesome story and kudos to SW. This doesn’t surprise me at all. However… I’m calling BS on him getting there 2 hrs early. He could have said something when checking in or at the security line.
Nice! +Positive ftw!
#33 Whining
“but how many were made late/missed a connection as the result of this airline not running on time?” None. 15 minutes is “on time” in the airline business and planning is done accordingly.
“the attention should be drawn to the pre-boarding process and why didn’t SW usher the guy thru that?” Have you ever tried to find someone in airport you didn’t know?
“Like pastry, a few here and there are ok, but really, where’s the beef?” A company trusted it’s employee to do the right thing.
You really are an asshat, you know that?
This is the downside of deregulation. The other airlines will probably ask for more regulation just to cripple Southwest, and anyone like it. Their bottom lines are being hurt by the competition, and all those big unions have to give up big concessions now. It was deregulation that caused Southwest to go national rather than flying between Texas’ 8000 airports.
>Meanwhile, the guy in seat 21A just missed seeing his dying mother by 12 minutes.
Can you imagine the posts on this site if that had happened? The guy the pilot waited for, his relative was already dead! And Southwest is standing by their pilot? Why you have to take 6 flights to go between cities on that crappy airline. They charge you business class for the same seats@
#36–goobar==why all the hate? Imagine noting a problem AND HAVING A SOLUTION? No, you just want to stand still in rupture gawd-smacked by the kindness of man. Only able to focus on the feel good headline without any thoughts to the necessary and obvious consequences?
Good PUKE: handling the instructions one at a time a directed.
Haw, haw—silly hooman.
#39 Never mind. Obviously the pilot is not as smart as you. I’ll contact the pilot, and Gary Kelly as well, and have them ask you how to do their jobs.
How did the Southwest pilot know about this guy in the first place?