Scheduled Pilot Did Not Show Up For The Flight From Manchester

An off-duty easyJet Airlines pilot found himself suddenly back at work when the pilot who was scheduled to fly from Manchester, England to Alicante, Spain did not show up at the airport.

The New York Post reports that pilot Michael Bradley was on vacation with his family, and waiting to board the flight when he learned that there was no pilot for the flight, so he contacted the airline and volunteered to move from his seat in the cabin to on in the front office.

Bradley fortunately was carrying his pilot certificate with him and had had four days off before his planned trip to Spain. He told The Manchester Evening News that he called the airline from the airport and said he was standing in the terminal "doing nothing. I have my license with me." Less than a minute later, he got a call from the airline, which said "Please, please, pretty please with a big cherry on top, can you fly the airplane to Alicante?"

Prior to takeoff, Bradley made an announcement over the aircraft's intercom indicating that his wife and son were seated in row 15. "Hopefully, he’s asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I’ll get told off,” he said.

easyJet released a statement thanking Bradley for stepping up to make the flight happen. “This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew.”

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report