American Airlines captain offers in-person apology for travel delay

An American Airlines pilot entered the cabin of a delayed aircraft to offer an apology and explanation to passengers (with one passenger claiming they also recieved free drinks). Photo / Gerrie van der Walt, Unsplash

An American Airlines captain offered an in-person apology and explanation to passengers facing a tarmac delay this week, a video posted to Twitter shows.

Delays and long waits are an aspect of travel that airline passengers often anticipate ahead of a trip. Even so, a level of frustration arises after sitting on the tarmac or in an airport lounge for hours, cutting into valuable holiday time.

Perhaps an issue heightening that frustration is the impersonal way in which key information is delivered – often over loudspeakers or through glitchy airline apps.

In a video posted to Twitter, a flight captain enters the cabin and walks down the aisle of the plane, talking directly to economy passengers.

He greets the passengers with a joke, saying, ”How we doing guys? Another fantastic on-time American Airlines departure, right?”

Then, more seriously, he offers an update.

“My apologies on that, seriously... we’ll do what we can to get you there as quickly as possible.”

He goes on to briefly describe the issues that led to the flight delay, and then offers further reassurance, saying, “We’ll pedal as fast as we can, we’ll give you an update [landing] time as soon as we get airborne, any questions before we go?”

I have traveled a lot but this has never happened. The captain himself comes face to face to tell why we are late and of course apologized. Also promised to provide free drinks on the @AmericanAir bill. This is customer service. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/gSLyy9wFlq

— Sami Muhonen (@samimuho) May 21, 2023

The captain’s presence and information relay seem to boost morale in the cabin, with a short clap arising from the passengers after the apology and explanation.

The user who shared the video on Twitter, Sami Muhonen, also claimed that the captain offered to provide free drinks to the passengers, with American Airlines fronting the cost.

Sami wrote: “This is customer service.”

American Airlines also reached out to Sami Muhonen in the comments, writing: “We love this! Please meet us in DM with your trip code and flight info as we’d like to recognise him! #AATeam”

Another enthusiastic commenter claimed that the captain captured in the video is her husband, writing: “That’s my amazing husband Rod Campbell, Phoenix-based Captain! Whether he’s walking the cabin to talk to our passengers, or helping with passengers in their wheelchairs, or assisting our Flight Attendants with whatever they need to work their flight!”

On the American Airlines website, there are some guarantees offered for passengers in the event of a lengthy tarmac delay at a US airport. Passengers will receive food and water within two hours (unless the pilot-in-command finds a relevant safety or security consideration). They’ll be able to access functional lavatory facilities, receive medical attention and wait in comfortable temperatures. They also note that passengers should receive a notification about the delay should it last longer than 30 minutes, along with an opportunity to deplane if possible.

It appears an in-person apology and explanation from the captain, along with the offering of free drinks, is not a guarantee during a tarmac-based delay. However, it’s clear this captain’s personal approach gave passengers some comfort.