Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson has been praised for giving up his seat on a plane so that a mum could get home to her daughter. Picture: Karen Bleier / AFP
Source: AFP

Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson. Picture: Delta Airlines
Source: Supplied

AN AIRLINE boss has given his seat to a tired, stressed mum who needed to get home to her daughter.

Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson was booked on a flight from Washington D.C. to Atlanta on a day where the airline faced numerous delays and cancellations.

Jessie Frank was also trying to get to Atlanta, and had been waiting all day to get on a flight. Ms Frank was desperate to get home to pick up her diabetic daughter from summer camp.

At 9.30pm, she was eighth on the list of standby passengers waiting to fly to Atlanta before the D.C. curfew hit at 10pm.

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Seven names went by. The system showed zero seats left.

Ms Frank was about to give up when the flight attendant from Delta airlines rushed her down the jetway and shook her head.

But then something wonderful happened.

The flight attendant paused, talked to someone and then waved her down to the plane.

“A vaguely familiar face met me at the doorway, not in uniform so probably an off-duty pilot I had seen before. He quickly grabbed my roll-aboard, helped clear a space in the overhead, and showed me to my seat.”

As the flight descended into Atlanta the flight attendant announced that the plane had a special guest on board flying in the jump seat – the spare seat behind the pilots in the cockpit. He was riding in that seat because he had given up his place to allow one more person on the flight.

That man was Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines.

Overwhelmed with emotion Ms Frank took to Facebook to pen an open letter to Mr Anderson.

In it she writes: “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. 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.

“Thank you, Richard Anderson. As a result of your leadership and the actions of yourself and your employees, 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. I have always been a loyal Delta customer, but Thursday solidified that loyalty for life! To all Delta employees who helped me on Thursday: thank you again.”

Delta Airlines have confirmed the incident occurred but have so far declined to comment.

Ms Frank’s letter has since been shared 1697 times. Proof that good customer service may be the best PR of all.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Delta Airlines Embraer E170 heading from San Antonio, Texas to Minneapolis was diverted to Kansas City International Airport just before 8:00 p.m. Monday.

Delta flight 5789, which landed without incident, suffered a cabin depressurization during the flight, prompting the diverted landing at KCI, according to an airport spokesman.

The plane landed without incident and was able to taxi to the gate under its own power.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the plane, which is capable of flying up to 80 passengers, to lose cabin pressure.

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The Federal Aviation Authority is investigating a near mid-air collision by two passenger airliners above New York City, it said on Friday.

A Delta Airlines Boeing 747, coming in to land at New York’s JFK airport, came within half a mile of a Shuttle America flight which was taking off from La Guardia, the FAA said in a statement.

The aircraft had “lost the required separation” that aeroplanes must have from one another in the air, the agency said. Both planes ultimately landed safely.

“The FAA is investigating an incident on June 13 at 2.40pm, in which Delta Airlines Boeing 747 arriving at JFK’s Runway 4L lost the required amount of separation with a Shuttle America Embraer E170 departing from LaGuardia’s Runway 13,” the FAA said.

“The two aircraft were turning away from each other at the point where they lost the required separation. Both aircraft landed safely.”

An FAA source said that in the airspace where the incident occurred the required separation for aircraft is 1,000ft above or below one another and 1,000ft from wingtip to wingtip.

The “nose to tail” required separation between aircraft is three miles, the source said.

The situation arose when the pilot of the Delta flight made a decision not to complete his landing on runway 4L at JFK. This is a standard procedure known as a “missed approach”.

NYC Aviation, a trusted aviation news website which reconstructed the near miss from flight radar data and control tower audio, said that normally in that situation the pilot would bank to the right and circle back for another attempt.

In this case the pilot of a flight just ahead of the Delta Boeing 747 had also aborted his landing. This meant the Delta flight could not also bank right, for fear of coming too close to the aircraft ahead.

Instead the Delta flight was ordered left by the JFK control tower, before then banking right.

This brought the Delta flight into the path of the Shuttle America Embraer E170, which had just taken off from La Guardia.

NYC Aviation told the story of the briefly dramatic exchange between the pilot of the Delta Boeing 747 and the JFK control tower.

JFK tower asks Delta 172, “Are you turning?” Delta 172 responds “Uh, yes sir, we’re almost at 040 now.” Immediately after, the JFK tower controller gets back on the radio and states “Delta 172 heavy, traffic 12 o’clock, 1400 feet, Embraer at 1600 feet,” with a tone of important in his voice. Delta 172 replies “Ok, we got them on the fish finder here,” referring to the traffic collision avoidance system.

“OK, he’s eastbound at 1800 feet climbing out of ZULAV.” At this moment, the two aircraft were at virtually the same altitude, headed for each other. However, all parties involved knew of the conflicting traffic, and both aircraft were actively turning to avoid each other. Delta turning to the right, Shuttle America to the left.

With the TCAS alarm sounding in the background, Delta 172 gets back on the radio and says “OK, we’re turning right to 060.” JFK tower then assigns a heading of 180, and Delta 172 is heading south to re-enter the approach pattern. Just like that, it’s over. Shuttle America 5981 continues on to Jacksonville, and Delta 172 circles back to JFK and lands safely.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-miss by two airplanes over New York City.

The FAA said in a statement Friday that a Delta Airlines Boeing 747 arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport came close to a Shuttle America Embraer E170 departing from LaGuardia Airport around 3:45 p.m. June 13.

The aircraft were “turning away from each other at the point where they lost the required separation,” the FAA said. Both aircraft landed safely.

NEW YORK –  The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-miss by two airplanes over New York City.

The FAA said in a statement Friday that a Delta Airlines Boeing 747 arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport came close to a Shuttle America Embraer E170 departing from  LaGuardia Airport around 3:45 p.m. June 13.

The aircraft were “turning away from each other at the point where they lost the required separation,” the FAA said. Both aircraft landed safely.

Delta Airlines’ proposed purchase of a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic has been cleared by EU and US regulators.

The move – aimed at giving Virgin a greater foothold in the US and Delta more access to London’s Heathrow airport – will intensify Sir Richard Branson’s rivalry with British Airways (BA).

The deal was announced last December when Singapore Airlines said it planned to sell its shares in Virgin to Delta – subject to competition investigations.

On Thursday the European Commission said the agreement did not pose a threat as the venture would have to compete against strong rivals, notably BA and American Airlines.

The commission added that it cooperated with the US Department of Justice and Department of Transportation in reviewing the proposed deal.

It will result in a £224m investment in Virgin by Delta, the largest carrier in the US.

The pair will continue to operate under their own brands but help each other on routes.

At the time the proposed investment was announced, the airlines spoke of their hopes that it would intensify competition on North America routes and bring down ticket prices.

NEW YORK –  The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-miss by two airplanes over New York City.

The FAA said in a statement Friday that a Delta Airlines Boeing 747 arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport came close to a Shuttle America Embraer E170 departing from  LaGuardia Airport around 3:45 p.m. June 13.

The aircraft were “turning away from each other at the point where they lost the required separation,” the FAA said. Both aircraft landed safely.

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