by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:55 AM ET, Tue June 11, 2019
Delta Air Lines is receiving praise since the carrier flew a group of students on a private flight after American Airlines canceled their scheduled field trip to Washington, D.C.
According to The Dallas Morning News, a group of 41 fifth-grade students and their chaperones arrived at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma on June 2 with the intention of flying to Washington, D.C. as part of a class trip.
When the group arrived at the airport, American officials informed them the flight to Virginia was canceled despite it being planned for almost a year. The airline issued a refund, but the students were devastated by the news since there were no other flights to Washington, D.C.
Two Delta gate agents working nearby saw the incident occur and contacted their employer's management team, who sent a spare plane to Oklahoma City to bring the children to their destination.
After 6.5 hours waiting at the airport, the class boarded a private Delta flight and was able to complete their field trip to the nation's capital. The students were gracious and thanked the airline for stepping up, with one chaperone even taking to Twitter to show her gratitude.
Delta also released a statement to Fox News about the incident:
"This heartwarming story is a testament to our culture and heart of Delta people that if you see an opportunity to do the right thing, you take it every time," Delta spokesperson Drake Castaneda said. "Seeing people for who they are, and not just customers of one carrier or another is what really made this story possible."
"While we are in the travel business, we see ourselves as in the people business first and we couldn't be happier that these students were able to make their trip," Castaneda continued.
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