Phil Stringer was booked on an American Airlines flight from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Charlotte, North Carolina. After an 18-hour delay, he was the only one to show up at his gate.
After waiting 18 hours for a delayed flight, one man ended up being the only passenger on a plane.
Phil Stringer was booked on an American Airlines flight from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Charlotte, North Carolina, that he says was delayed for 18 hours. When his flight was finally called, Stringer was the only one who showed up.
“I get to the gate and nobody’s there except for the gate agent and I looked at her and I said, ‘Did you already board everyone, like am I late?’ and she goes, ‘No honey you’re the only passenger on this flight,’” the lone passenger tells Inside Edition.
During his two-hour flight, the flight attendants gave Stringer their undivided attention.
“They gave me all the food and drink that I wanted. They let me sit wherever I wanted,” Stringer says.
Stringer says he ended up becoming friends with the crew.
“I got the phone numbers of the crew members; I mean, we were literally texting each other today,” Stringer says.
American Airlines tells Inside Edition, “We know it can be frustrating when travel plans get delayed and are thankful for our crew members who went above and beyond for Mr. Stringer during his flight.”
Thousands of other passengers have dealt with recent terrible travel experiences due to storms across the country.
Inside Edition’s own Steven Fabian experienced some travel trouble.
“My family and I just landed here at JFK after spending a few days in Bar Harbor, Maine, on vacation and look, traveling with kids is hard enough, but our flight was supposed to be last night,” Fabian said in a video at the airport. “It was actually delayed overnight and we’re getting here to the airport in New York some 14 hours later than we were supposed to."
Around 2,000 flights were canceled and around 8,000 flights were delayed across the United States leading up to the Fourth of July weekend.
AAA predicts 4.1 million Americans will fly to their destination over the holiday weekend, 11% over last year.
