A woman is extremely grateful to the CEO of Delta airlines after he gave up his seat on an overbooked flight so the woman could get home to pick up her sick daughter.
Jessie Frank took her Facebook page to share her story of how Richard Anderson did a selfless act by freeing up a seat and sitting with the pilots in the cockpit.
Frank was on her way to get her daughter, who suffers from type 1 diabetes from a special camp for diabetic kids. She was the eighth person on a standby list, but with the help of Anderson, she was allowed to board the plane.
Frank wrote a letter to Anderson, thanking him for his generosity. She explained how much it meant to her to board the flight.
Frank was desperate to pick up her daughter from the camp. "Camp Kudzu gives my daughter five days a year when she feels 'normal," Frank explains. "Pick-up day gives me a glimpse into that special world where she's just like everyone else, and she's a little bit of a different person for the rest of the day. By the next day, it's back to the harsh realities of managing a difficult, deadly, incurable disease that kills one in 20 before the age of 18."
She was traveling from New York and was rerouted to Washington, where she waited for hours before she was told that there were no seats left on the next flight. However a flight attendant later told her that there was room for her.
Frank explained what Anderson did for her and thanked him in her letter.
"As the plane descended into Atlanta, the flight attendant announced that there was a special guest on board," Frank wrote. "He was riding in a jump seat, because he had given up his place to allow one more person on that flight."
"Suddenly I realized that 'familiar face' was not an off-duty pilot," Frank wrote. "It was you, the CEO of Delta, vaguely familiar from the safety video. It was you, Richard Anderson, who gave up your seat for me. It was you, the Delta CEO, who helped me with my bag. It was you, acting just like an ordinary Mr. Anderson, who showed me to my seat."
"You, Richard Anderson, the CEO of Delta, did all that for me, just an average, middle-aged, woman with, as far as anyone at Delta knew, no special reason to get home," Ms Frank added.
"But more importantly, it was all of your employees that day that did so much helping me to get home -- and now I know why. Because Delta is led by you, Richard Anderson, a dedicated and inspiring leader who so clearly demonstrates, at his very core, that he leads by example, and does not set himself above all those who allow this airline to exist."
Frank's letter has been shared more than 1,700 times since she posted it. She also posted it to Delta's Facebook page. The airline confirmed the incident but Anderson did not want to comment on it. Frank hopes he sees her thank you and she vows to fly with Delta again.
"I had my special day with my special child. You and your employees gave us both one more day of happiness, and for that, we are both very grateful,' Frank wrote. "I have always been a loyal Delta customer, but Thursday solidified that loyalty for life!"
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
