Fifth grade students stranded by American Airlines on class trip get rescued by Delta with private flight

Updated
Two Delta Air Line gate agents helped get 41 fifth grades to Washington, D.C. after their American Airlines flight was canceled. (Photo: Twitter)
Two Delta Air Line gate agents helped get 41 fifth grades to Washington, D.C. after their American Airlines flight was canceled. (Photo: Twitter)

Forty-one fifth grade students and their adult chaperones on a class trip to Washington, D.C. were left stranded at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport after their American Airlines flight was canceled. Thanks to Delta Air Lines gate agents, however, they were able to travel to the country's capital.

The group was set to travel from Tulsa to Richmond, Virginia, when American Airlines announced their flight was canceled. After being told there were no alternative flights available, KOCO News reports, the entire party received full refunds on their tickets.

The students remained at the airport for six and a half hours, with no promise that they would be able to make their long-awaited trip. However, Delta gate agents eventually intervened.

Two agents reached out to the airline's headquarters in Atlanta and were able to acquire a spare plane. The plane was flown to Oklahoma City just for the students.

"It was absolutely amazing when Delta corporate came in and just said, 'We'll just give you the whole plane,'" a chaperone on the trip told the local news station.

Cara Horn, one of the agents who helped the fifth-graders, told the outlet that they were "thrilled" to be able to get the group to their school trip destination.

"We were so thrilled to have been able to make such a difference in the days of each and every one of these kids," Horn said.

“This heartwarming story is a testament to our culture and the to heart of Delta people that if you see an opportunity to do right thing, you take it every time,” a Delta spokesperson, Drake Casta?eda, said in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle. “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.”

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