Fifth Graders Had Been Left Stranded When American Airlines Cancelled Their Flight Due To Weather

Delta Air Lines is looking like a hero after it chartered a spare plane to take a group of 41 fifth graders and their adult chaperones on a trip to the Nation's capital after their flight on American Airlines was cancelled.

USA Today reports that the group from James L. Dennis Elementary School in Oklahoma City was traveling to Richmond, VA and then on to Washington, D.C. on American Airlines. But serious weather issues forced American to cancel more than 300 flights that day, according to an AA spokesperson. The group was left sitting at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City wondering if their trip was going to happen.

While it was not reported how the group's plight came to the attention of Delta, the carrier brought out a "spare" airplane and flew it as a charter from OKC to Richmond, VA, even though it does not have a regular slot to land at Richmond. The group had the airplane all to themselves.

Delta spokesperson Drake Castañeda told USA Today that the story is indicative of Delta's corporate culture.

American apologized for the problem in a statement to USA Today. "We do apologize for the cancellation, which was the result of inclement weather that was out of our control," the statement from American spokesman Ross Feinstein read. "That weekend, we canceled more than 300 flights due to the weather."

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report