An American Airways passenger was the one one on his flight after it was delayed by 18 hours.
An American Airways passenger walked into a wholly empty aircraft this weekend and joked that he purchased each single seat on his flight, so he did not must cope with anybody.
In actuality, Phil Stringer was simply the one one who waited out an 18-hour delay for his flight house to North Carolina.
“Everybody had given up throughout the 18 hours,” Stringer, a chief working officer at an actual property brokerage in North Carolina, advised FOX Enterprise. His fellow passengers, who have been additionally caught in Oklahoma, opted for a lodge as a substitute and deliberate to come back again to the airport the next day, he mentioned. Stringer, although, did not take that possibility as a result of he needed to make it house by Monday morning for work.
“I had no concept that I used to be the one passenger till proper earlier than I boarded,” Stringer mentioned. “It was an insane expertise.”
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Stringer was on a enterprise journey in Oklahoma Metropolis when he was notified at 3 a.m. Sunday morning that his flight again to Charlotte had been delayed just a few hours.
He was one in every of 1000’s of individuals throughout the nation whose flight had been disrupted, partly, by thunderstorms that rolled in throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. On Sunday alone, there have been almost 10,000 delays in, out of and throughout the U.S., in line with flight monitoring web site FlightAware. There have been over 1,400 cancellations, in line with the info.
Stringer’s flight was supposed to go away at 6:20 a.m. nevertheless it stored “getting pushed again sort of incrementally,” Stringer mentioned.
Phil Stringer subsequent to American Airways crew members on his flight from Oklahoma to North Carolina. Stringer was the one passenger on his flight on June 25, 2023. (Phil Stringer)
Nonetheless, Stringer was decided to get house for his conferences Monday, so he stayed on the airport and did his work in a Starbucks all day. When it closed, he moved to an empty desk and stored working.
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“I used to be like, I am simply sticking it out,” Stringer mentioned.
At 11:30 p.m., whereas working within the midst of what Stringer described as a “ghost city,” an airport employee advised him that his aircraft lastly arrived and that he ought to go to his gate.
When Stringer confirmed up on the empty gate, he requested if everybody had already boarded. The flight attendant merely responded: “No, honey, you are the one passenger left,” he recalled.
A shot of Phil Stringer’s empty American Airways flight from Oklahoma to North Carolina. (Phil Stringer)
Stringer mentioned all the crew had been known as in from their accommodations to do the flight.
“I’m the one particular person on this flight and so they have a complete flight crew. They don’t wish to do that flight,” he joked in a TikTok video he created highlighting the journey.
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To lighten the temper, Stringer – who admitted that this wasn’t a perfect scenario for him or the crew – mentioned “All of us simply determined as a consensus, ‘hey, let’s simply have enjoyable with this.'”
It was solely a two-hour flight, however Stringer applauded the crew for going above and past. They gave him no matter meals or beverage he wished and stored him firm all through the journey.
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“They took care of me. They have been continuously developing and chatting with me… I did sit within the entrance row, after all. Why not, when you’ve got the entire aircraft to your self,” he added.
American Airways acknowledged how irritating it may be when journey plans are disrupted.
A spokesperson advised FOX Enterprise that the corporate is “grateful for our crew members who went above and past to take care of Mr. Stringer throughout his flight.”
