Delta Charters Private Jet For Stranded Fifth-Grade Students On Field Trip

 A Delta Airlines jet is prepared for flight

A group of 41 fifth-grade students and their chaperones had been planning to visit Washington D.C. for the past year but had their plans dashed when their American Airlines flight was canceled. The airline offered a refund for the tickets, but there were no other flights between Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and any of the D.C.-area airports.

Luckily for the students, two Delta gate agents happened to overhear what happened and decided to help out. They contacted Delta's headquarters in Atlanta and arranged for a spare aircraft to get the students to the nation's capital.

After waiting for over six hours, a CRJ-900 arrived at the airport, and the students could not believe they had the entire aircraft to themselves.

"When we heard about this group of students booked on another airline that were stuck in Oklahoma City, there wasn't even a consideration given to not making an effort in finding a solution," said Jeff Trainer – a Duty Director in the OCC in a statement released by Delta. "We operate on a simple philosophy – do what's right, no matter the specifics at hand. When we see people in a bind, we don't see customers of one airline or another – we see people. We're here to help everyone we can. That's what makes moments like these possible."

Shantell Barbour, one of the group's chaperones, shared a photo of some of the kids on Twitter and thanked Delta for stepping up and helping them out.

"@Delta THANK YOU for getting this group of 5th graders out of OKC and onto Richmond Virginia on a private flight when @AmericanAir wanted to leave us stranded! Most amazing corporation to work with at 3:00am. #flyDelta"

Photo: Getty Images


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