A DELIGHTED traveller was treated to a “private jet” experience when he unexpectedly became the only passenger on the plane.
Vincent Peone was travelling with Delta Air Lines to Salt Lake City when he found out he was the only guest on board.
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The film director told Washington Post that it was likely because the flight had been rescheduled.
Vincent made a montage of his amazing experience and shared it on social media.
The video starts with him at the boarding gate, where the ground crew announced, “will the only passenger on this flight kindly board at this time,” before calling his name.
He was then chaperoned to the plane by a member of staff.
As he boarded, he watched the ground crew loading sandbags on to the aircraft to “add weight” to the empty plane.
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Flight crew then gave him a personal safety announcement.
The flight attendant said over the loud speaker: “Good evening sir, and welcome aboard. We look forward to taking care of you today.”
She added: “If you need any assistance getting settled we’d be delighted to serve you.”
Vincent even managed to meet the pilots, shaking their hands and thanking them for flying him.
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The 35-year-old explained that while it costs around $30,000 (£25,000) to fly that plane, it was most likely needed to collect passengers from Salt Lake City, which was why it was forced to fly almost empty.
He later said that the crew were happy to play along for the video.
Social media users loved the video, calling the experience “incredible”.
Many responses weren’t about the experience, but about the “hot pilot”.
One person said: “Let’s talk about that hot pilot.”
Another woman wrote: “I know this shouldn’t be my main focus here, but I’m gonna need some deets on that hunky pilot.”
One response simply said: “#pilotbae.”
Delta responded on Twitter as well, tweeting: “Hi Vincent! That looks like an awesome experience! Thank you for the shoutout, and we truly appreciate you for choosing Delta! Take care.”
Why do some planes fly empty?
Some planes may fly with barely any passengers on for a number of reasons.
One common reason is because the aircraft is needed at the destination for another flight.
If it is a connecting flight, it has to reach its destination even if there are no passengers on it.
Empty planes can also be needed if there are issues such as bad weather, with airlines needing to draft in additional plane for stranded passengers.
The airline could also be fined if they don’t fly.
According to Time: “An airline that fails to meet its scheduled flight commitments can face government sanctions; or even lose its right to provide scheduled service.”
He is not the first person to have his own private jet by accident.
Saad Jilani from the UK paid just £40 to fly home from Corfu to Birmingham with Jet2 and ended up being the only person on the plane.
Two friends were even upgraded to business class for free when they were the only people on their London to New York Delta flight.
