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TikToker Phil Stringer said his Sunday flight from Oklahoma City to Charlotte was delayed 18 hours.
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Stringer ended up being the only person on his flight, so he got to sit wherever he wanted.
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He captured the unique and hilarious experience in a viral TikTok.
Phil Stringer was trying to return home from Oklahoma City to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday morning, but his plane was delayed repeatedly. After waiting in the airport for 18 hours, he was rewarded by being the only person on the flight when it finally took off. He got a free pass into first class and a private party with the crew.
Stringer, who serves as the chief operations officer for a real estate brokerage in North Carolina, captured highlights of his unusual experience in a TikTok that has already been viewed over three million times in less than a day.
Stringer told Insider his American Airlines flight was set to depart at 6:20 a.m. on Sunday and became perpetually delayed because of maintenance issues. He said his initial flight was full, but he didn’t notice many other people rebooking the flight.
When the flight was finally able to leave at midnight, and Stringer arrived at the gate, no one was there.
“I went to the gate and nobody was there. I was like, ‘Did you guys already board everyone?'[The flight attendant] was like, ‘No, honey, you’re the only passenger’,” he said.
Stringer said he felt bad the flight crew was called in to staff this flight just for him because it was so late.
“I apologized like 400 times,” he said, explaining that he tried to change his flight several times, but this was the only one that worked as he needed to get home.
“They were kind of teasing me like, ‘Really, bro, you couldn’t have left a few hours later?'” he added.
Despite all the unfortunate circumstances, when his flight finally flew at 12:20 a.m, the journey altogether was a blast. As viewers watched in his viral TikTok, the crew allowed Stringer to sit wherever he wanted and served him whatever drink or food he asked for.
Flight attendants could also be seen giggling and riffing with him as they performed the airplane safety routine and cheering for another attendant as she demonstrated putting on a life vest. He told Insider that whenever the crew would make a mandatory overhead announcement, they would add: “And, yeah, Phil, this message is just for you.”
He said they laughed and joked the whole time, and they eventually exchanged numbers.
Commenters are not only amused by Stringer’s turn of events, those who identified as flight attendants themselves said this is actually not an inconvenience but a “dream” work scenario.
“As a flight attendant, this is the DREAM! Welcome to your private charter,” one top commenter wrote; “I’ve always wanted to work a flight with one passenger,” another added.
Stringer noted that what could have gone down as a nightmare travel tale ended up being a wholesome, once-in-a-lifetime experience for him.
“I believe that your attitude determines your destination,” Stringer said. “Yeah, it was a sucky day, no one wants to stay in the airport for 18 hours, but if you have a positive view, you can turn something into a lot of fun.”
Videos about airplane travel are a fixture on TikTok — and they usually go viral for unsavory reasons, like a man being trapped in an airport hallway for two hours, or people arguing over which row seat gets to use which armrest. Stringer’s video is a refreshingly positive exception where people are celebrating airline travel.
Insider has reached out to American Airlines for comment.
Read the original article on Insider
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