‘I’ll Never Fly Another Airline Again’: Man Shares Truly Heartwarming Story As He Rushed to See His Dying Father

A man has vowed only to ever fly with United Airlines after a truly heartwarming gesture from a flight attendant as he rushed to see his dying father in his final moments.

The man was in San Francisco when he got the call from his sister that their dad was gravely sick in the hospital after a short illness.

“It was happening. Not in a few days. Not tomorrow. Right now,” the man shared in a post on the popular social media site Reddit.

Thank You, United.
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He booked the first flight he could with United to get him to Chicago, where his father was in the hospital, grabbed a bag, and rushed to the airport, hoping he would make it in time before boarding closed.

“I was still wearing my work shoe,” the man wrote. “My hands were shaking the whole Uber ride to the airport. I didn’t know if I was going to make it in time.”

“Somewhere over Colorado, one of the flight attendants came over. I wish I had caught her name. She crouched next to me and asked if I was alright. I think I had been crying without realizing. I told her the truth. My dad was dying and I didn’t know if I would see him again.”

The man continued: “She didn’t try to make it better. She just listened. That’s it. She sat there for a few seconds and nodded. Then she brought me a ginger ale, a packet of tissues, and later, after the drink service was done, she came back with a warm chocolate chip cookie. She didn’t say much, just handed it to me and said, For the road.'”

“It was the smallest thing. But in that moment, it felt like someone cared. Not like an airline. Not like an employee. Just a person.”

The man arrived in Chicago two hours later and went straight to the hospital. His father was awake for just twenty minutes. “He held my hand. He said my name. That was all I needed.”

“I don’t know if she’ll ever see this. But if you’re a United flight attendant who worked that flight from SFO to ORD on May 22nd, thank you. You helped someone hold it together just long enough.”

“And that cookie? I still think about it. I will never fly any other airline.”

It’s moments like this that can make something as impersonal as modern-day air travel feel a little more human. A rare moment in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives.

And for once, it feels like an airline is living up to its marketing hype. In 2022, United launched its Good Leads the Way brand campaign, which was designed to highlight the airline’s commitment to customer service, diversity, and sustainability, as well as United’s mission to do the right thing for its customers.

Created by the LA-based ad agency 72andSunny, the Good Leads the Way campaign was United’s first major brand campaign in a decade, launched as the airline industry started to recover from the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campaign continues to this day, although critics have pondered just how much United is committed to being ‘good’ given the way that contract negotiations with flight attendants dragged on for five years before a tentative agreement was finally endorsed by the crew union last week.

While flight attendants are yet to vote on the contract, there are growing signs of disquiet amongst crew about just how ‘good’ the tentative agreement is. Rather than being ‘industry-leading,’ the deal simply matches pay rates at rival Delta.

Some crew have even said that if United is only willing to offer ‘industry standard’ pay, then they can only offer ‘industry standard’ service.