Southwest pilot serves coffee to delayed passengers, Jet Airways CEO appreciates the gesture

A Southwest pilot was seen offering coffee to stranded passengers (Image: EricFlackTV/Twitter)

A Southwest pilot was seen handing out coffee to passengers stranded at an airport after the airline cancelled thousands of flights during the holiday season. Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor praised the pilot as well as the passengers who applauded him when he appeared with a tray of coffee cups.

The video was posted on Twitter by WUSA 9 reporter Eric Flack. It shows the unnamed Southwest pilot offering coffee to passengers stuck at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Another airline employee followed the pilot with a tray of milk and sugar.

According to Flack, the pilot received a smattering of applause when he told passengers “We’re trying folks.”

“The frontline takes the brunt during operational disruptions. Good on this Captain! Good response from pax,” wrote Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor on Twitter.

A @SouthwestAir pilot hands out coffee to delayed passengers on a flight from Baltimore to Louisville. “We’re trying folks,” he told the crowd to a smattering of applause as everyone waited for replacement flight attendants. #Southwest pic.twitter.com/fmMAqS4cck

— Eric Flack (@EricFlackTV) December 27, 2022

If Thursday turns out to be the last day of the Southwest crisis, it will be marked by about 2,350 cancelled flights, nearly 60% of the airline's schedule.

Southwest declined to say how many people have been affected, but it is likely that far more than 1 million have had a flight cancelled.

(With inputs from AP)