When This American Airlines Flight Diverted Tuesday, The Captain Ordered Everyone Pizza

On Tuesday American Eagle flight 4798, operated by Republic Airways, was scheduled to fly from Key West to Charlotte. The Embraer ERJ-175 regional jet was packed with passengers, most of whom were likely heading home after a long weekend in Florida.

However thunderstorms in Charlotte kept them from landing, and the flight diverted to Charleston, South Carolina. The flight, which departed 40 minutes late, spent an hour and 22 minutes on the ground in Charleston.

Word from the flight, though, was that the captain kept everyone in good spirits by having pizza delivered to the plane. He took care of refueling passengers, not just the plane. So everyone made it into Charlotte at 8:09 p.m. feeling much better than passengers usually would after a grueling six hours in a regional jet.

From Facebook, this appears to be the first officer from the flight. Both the captain and first officer’s names were John. Sadly, a photo showing the pizza boxes and sodas doesn’t appear to show Papa John’s. That might have been the only thing to make this story even more fitting.


Credit: Facebook

American Airlines spokesperson Sarah Jantz shares,

We’re incredibly proud of the American Airlines team and our regional partners — including Republic’s crew members — who take great care of our customers every day. Rain or shine, our team consistently proves they’re the best in the business.

Weather can throw a monkey wrench into travel. Things can get rough inside a metal tube for hours longer than you’ve planned. But a little bit of kindness goes a long way. This captain of the American Eagle flight showed more than a little. Pizza makes everything better.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Nice until someone complained about the lack of vegan options or mask wearing.

  2. “…a grueling six hours in a regional jet”? Have you ever been on an E-175? Come on. It’s almost like being on a miniature 737. It’s not like it’s a E-145 or CRJ-200.

  3. Get the Airline correct, it was republic airlines, operating AS an AA flight! It was YX that did this NOT AA. Glad to see it but I’m totally suprised that no one is complaining or getting on YX for serving unpackaged food during a Coronavirus!

  4. JET707 it’s probably because most are so over this crap and just want everything to go back to normal.

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