Flying private doesn’t come cheap.
But one man found out exactly what it’s like for the price of coach.
Phil Stringer posted a video to TikTok showing his completely empty flight after an 18-hour delay.
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The video starts with an on-screen caption saying, “When you buy every single ticket on the plane so you don’t have to deal with people”.
This is as Stringer walks on to an empty American Airlines aircraft.
It then cuts to a different clip captioned, “Just kidding, it was delayed 18 hours and everyone else gave up”.
This is when Stringer explains that he is “the only person on the plane, and they have an entire flight crew”.
The story goes that Stringer had to endure about seven different delays due to “maintenance issues”.
With nowhere to go, he decided to hunker down at a Starbucks in the airport to crack on with some work.
But when he packed up his stuff and headed to the gate, he discovered he’d be embarking solo.
“I didn’t know that I was the only passenger until the very end,” Stringer said.
“I was on the opposite end of the airport working. When I get to the gate there was no one there.”
Asking the gate agent if he’d missed boarding, he was told, “No, honey. You’re the only passenger left at the airport.”
In another clip, Stringer shows off the empty terminal at the Oklahoma City airport.
An announcement then comes over the PA system, “Passenger Charlie Stinger, your aircraft will be leaving in 10 minutes.”
Once on board, the American Airlines crew decide to have a little fun with their lone passenger.
“Small personal handheld devices like tablets, cell phones and smart watches all need to be placed in airplane mode at this time sir,” said one of the crew pointing towards Stringer.
Another flight attendant struggles to keep her composure as she’s demonstrating how to fasten and unfasten the seat belt.
“You have to pay attention,” she jokingly scolds Stringer, as he turns the camera towards the rest of the crew seated behind him.
Apparently, the crew gave Stringer the food and drive he wanted, they joked around, talked a bunch.
It’s clear that Stringer and the crew tried their best to make light of a bad situation and by the time they’d touched down, they’d formed new friendships all round.
“We exchanged numbers, so I’m friends with all of the crew now,” Stringer said.
“We’re in a group message together.”
The video ends with a sweet picture of Stringer and his new friends.
