Photo: Facebook / Michelle Hannah Potts
One dad was about to board an easyJet flight out of Manchester, U.K., to Alicante, Spain, and found out at the gate that the flight had been delayed because the airline was under-staffed. He ended up flying the plane himself.
There’s a catch to the story, of course: the dad, Michael Bradley, is a qualified pilot. He also happens to be working for easyJet, but he still deserves credit for taking time out of his family holiday to fly the plane to its destination.
A video of the moment in which the passengers were informed that their plane finally had a captain was captured by flier Michelle Hannah Potts and posted to social media, where it went viral. It was shot after everyone was allowed to board the plane, but they had not been told when the plane would take off.
Bradley explains to them that he and his wife and kid had arrived at the airport knowing there would be some delay. His wife made him take his pilot identification, so he was eventually able to offer his services when the delay turned into a full cancellation.
“My wife who's on row 15 with my little boy – hopefully he's asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I'll get told off – she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said ‘our flight's delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight’,” Bradley told the passengers. “So just before we went through security I thought I wonder if this is worth a phone call, I think it is because I'd like to go on holiday.”
“I phoned up easyJet and said ‘Hiya, I'm standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my license with me – deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am – I have got my ID with me and I'd very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favor I'm standing here ready to go,” he continued.
His speech concluded with telling the passengers that he would be honored to fly them if they didn’t mind the lack of proper pilot attire. As expected, the announcement was welcomed with wide cheers and applause, which probably ended up waking up Bradley’s boy in row 15.
easyJet says that this was an exceptional situation, assuring customers that Bradley is an experienced pilot legally permitted to fly the aircraft. Moreover, he was coming off a 4-day break, which means he was well rested and fit to pilot.
A video of the moment in which the passengers were informed that their plane finally had a captain was captured by flier Michelle Hannah Potts and posted to social media, where it went viral. It was shot after everyone was allowed to board the plane, but they had not been told when the plane would take off.
Bradley explains to them that he and his wife and kid had arrived at the airport knowing there would be some delay. His wife made him take his pilot identification, so he was eventually able to offer his services when the delay turned into a full cancellation.
“My wife who's on row 15 with my little boy – hopefully he's asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I'll get told off – she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said ‘our flight's delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight’,” Bradley told the passengers. “So just before we went through security I thought I wonder if this is worth a phone call, I think it is because I'd like to go on holiday.”
“I phoned up easyJet and said ‘Hiya, I'm standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my license with me – deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am – I have got my ID with me and I'd very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favor I'm standing here ready to go,” he continued.
His speech concluded with telling the passengers that he would be honored to fly them if they didn’t mind the lack of proper pilot attire. As expected, the announcement was welcomed with wide cheers and applause, which probably ended up waking up Bradley’s boy in row 15.
easyJet says that this was an exceptional situation, assuring customers that Bradley is an experienced pilot legally permitted to fly the aircraft. Moreover, he was coming off a 4-day break, which means he was well rested and fit to pilot.
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