My Faith in Humanity is Restored
by Steve West on January 3, 2022
This is a true story I saw on a travel blog website.
Late one night, a woman and her husband received the tragic news that their three-year-old grandson in Denver had been murdered by their daughter’s live-in boyfriend. The boy was being taken off life support at 9 o’clock that evening and his parents opted for organ donation which would take place immediately upon his passing. Over twenty-five people would receive his gift and many lives saved.
The morning following the late-night call, after only a couple hours sleep, the woman and her husband began to make the arrangements to get him to Denver to be with their daughter. He was on business in LA and flying Southwest Airlines. The quickest route from LA to Denver involved a change of planes in Tucson, AZ. While his employer arranged to get his ticket changed to Tucson, the woman called Southwest to arrange his flight from Tucson to Denver so he would be stepping off one plane and getting on another.
In LAX, the lines to both check a bag and get through security were exceptionally long and crowded. He got to the airport two hours early and was still late getting to his plane. Every step of the way, he was on the verge of tears, trying to get assistance from both TSA and Southwest employees to get to his plane on time.
When he was done with security, he grabbed his computer bag, shoes and belt and ran to his terminal in his stocking feet. When he got there, the pilot of his plane said, “Are you Mark? I held the plane for you and I’m sorry about the loss of your grandson.” The pilot had held the plane that was supposed to take off at 11:50 until 12:02 when Mark got there.
As he walked down the Jetway with the pilot, he said, “I can’t thank you enough for this.”
The pilot responded with, “They can’t go anywhere without me, and I wasn’t going anywhere without you.”
I don’t know any other airline that would have done this. I’m speechless. Twelve minutes may not sound like a lot to you or me, but every second counts when you’re an airline. Twelve minutes is an eternity. When the story was shared with Southwest, a representative said the airline was proud of the way the pilot had held the flight. Most airlines would punish an employee who holds up the line for any reason.
A trip was saved amid tragic circumstances by a compassionate pilot and an airline that supported his decision to hold a flight.
Two Replies to My Faith in Humanity is Restored
LaVonne Lemler | January 11, 2022
Heartwarming story!
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Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »
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