Delta Comes To The Rescue After Students Abandoned By Frontier Airlines

Delta Air Lines came to the rescue after weather impacted a high school group. When a Frontier Airlines flight was canceled, a group of runners trying to get to Florida sought help and Delta came to the rescue. In fact, they specifically arranged for a jet to fly the runners from Philadelphia to Orlando.
Delta 737-900er
Delta Air Lines came to the rescue when a group of high school students were left without a flight. Photo: Delta Air Lines

Ocean City High School students stuck in Philadelphia

Ocean City High School sent close to 80 students and chaperones to participate in Disney’s Cross Country Classic. The team was excited and all booked together on a Frontier Airlines flight. However, the team’s spirits were dashed after learning their flight was canceled due to weather, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Frontier
Bad weather forced Frontier to cancel the student’s flight. Photo: Frontier

This led to the entire team scrambling to find replacement flights. However, as such a large group, they knew it would be hard to get everyone on the same flight. Frontier did not have any immediate availability that would get the students into Orlando on time. So, the team took to social media and tried to get anyone’s attention. They ended up in luck.

Delta takes notice

Representatives at Delta came across the team searching for help and came to the rescue. The airline got the team and the chaperones on a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando on an unscheduled charter. Frontier Airlines worked to transfer the team onto Delta tickets.
Frontier
Frontier did not have immediate availability to rebook such a large group and worked with Delta to get them accommodated on Delta’s aircraft. Photo: Frontier

Delta comes to the rescue

An MD-88 flew from Atlanta to Philadelphia to especially fly the team down to Orlando. Since this was not a normal flight, Delta Air Lines even had to summon a crew to work for the flight. The team was not burdened with any costs associated with Delta’s actions.
Delta MD88
Delta chartered an MD88 to fly the students from Philadelphia to Orlando. Photo: Alec Wilson via Wikimedia Commons
And, after reaching Orlando, the team pulled off an incredible feat. The boy’s teams (varsity and junior varsity) placed first. The girl’s varsity team took second place. Meanwhile, the girl’s junior varsity team took fourth. These finishes placed the school among the top of over 75 participating schools.

This is not the first time Delta has come to the rescue after students were stuck due to circumstances beyond their control. Although such incidents are unfortunate and can be quite stressful, hopefully, other airlines like Delta are up to the challenge of stepping in when they can.

What do you make of Delta’s actions? Were you a part of this very special flight? Let us know in the comments!

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Deputy Content Manager @ Simple Flying. Washington DC-area based frequent flier with a passion for North American aviation. His favorite aircraft is a tie between the Airbus A330 and Boeing 767.

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Matt

How are other airlines so stupid to keep this happening? Not only does Delta get the good press, Frontier is left with the bill.

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4 months ago
Paige

How is frontier left with the bill? They didnt transport anyone, therefore no cost. Odd they canceled due to “weather” but the other airlines did not??

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4 months ago
Erik

“Frontier Airlines worked to transfer the team onto Delta tickets.” Meaning Delta likely got pay’d by frontier.

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4 months ago
mstuedel

Best PR for an airline. It shows concern and flexibility. It promotes trust and at the same time disqualifies the competitor. The 80 students have a long flying career ahead of them and will act as ambassadors.

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4 months ago
Jim

As much negative things that are floating around about the airline industry this gos to show that some dohave a heart and some compassion. Hats off to Delta for being able to get this done.

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4 months ago
Tom Boon

Not the first time either! https://simpleflying.com/delta-rescues-american-passengers/

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4 months ago
T.C. Brooks

Delta, carpe diem!

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4 months ago
Mike

Delta, is a special Airline and always puts the customer first. Simply the best company!!

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4 months ago
Rob

I was on that fight. Delta is amazing. Their employees truly care. We will never forget their kindness.

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4 months ago