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 that impacted the northern part of the state, and 159 frustrated passengers were facing the prospect of being stuck there until morning.
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).
A video of the act shows the captain running back and forth between the delivery car and the stranded passengers to personally deliver the pizzas. “I don’t think I’ve seen this before,” Josh Raines, who works at the airport and shot the video, tweeted.
“What a guy, what a guy,” people can be heard saying.
In a message on Facebook, the captain said his entire team participated to help the passengers.
“Thanks for the compliments however this was a “TEAM” effort,” Raines said.
“My First Officer was on the telephone with crew tracking / hotel desk arranging for our release and hotels for the entire crew. The Flight Attendants manned a galley cart from the aircraft serving waters, juice, and sodas to all the passengers in the terminal. All while the Envoy SPS Personnel were arranging for a bus, re-booking flights, and answering a flurry of questions from these passengers. Thanks to everyone for your help – there is no “I” in TEAM.”
American Airlines confirmed to CNN the flight was diverted because of bad weather, and continued its journey to Dallas-Fort Worth on Friday morning.
“We are always proud of our crew members who take great care of our customers who fly on American Airlines and are fortunate that they are the best in the business,” said airline spokesman Tom Henderson.