After canceling 300 flights due to the severe thunderstorms and tornado watch plaguing the Southeast Wednesday, Delta Air Lines is catering to passengers' appetites to help ease their frustration.
The Atlanta-based airline ordered more than 450 boxes of pizza for several passengers at airports in Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Ohio, Kentucky and other states with canceled or delayed flights affected by the storms.
This isn’t Delta’s first time offering free grub to keep customers happy.
Last year, during Delta's massive power outage that led to 2,300 canceled flights, the airline brought affected passengers donuts, pizza and free alcohol.
And in 2015, after a string of storms caused passengers heading to Atlanta to divert to South Carolina, Delta threw a few pizza parties to ease the pain.
“We know it’s not fun to be stuck on the ground somewhere,” Delta corporate communications manager Michael Thomas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Though Thomas doesn’t know exactly how many pizza boxes were dispatched, he said several stations in the Southeast, are in on the action.
In Panama City, Florida, Delta employees ordered 60 pizzas and 20 trays of chicken biscuits to feed well over 300 customers, he said.
Those stranded at the Nashville International Airport received 160 pizzas, plus 60 foot-long subs.
Some stations even brought out games and coloring books for passengers traveling with small children.
“It’s just a small gesture but it’s one that our customers do appreciate,” Thomas said.
Several passengers took to Twitter to offer their gratitude:
@Delta great customer service in Baton Rouge. Bought pizza for passengers delayed due to Atlanta weather #customerservicedoneright pic.twitter.com/KOxcuhNsb9
— Laura J. Campa (@ljcampa) April 5, 2017
#pizzapartyw/Delta
— Donna Shartzer (@DonnaShartzer) April 5, 2017
Delta graciously provided water and pizza to my school group traveling to Florida due to weather delays
Let's try this again and the pizza just arrived to the terminal! Yay! Thanks @Delta #delayedflight pic.twitter.com/8YmmJezcTr
— Xinia (@xiniapirkey) April 5, 2017
Bad weather ATL & other airports. @Delta employees - total pro's. Snacks, water, pizza & much patience. Silvia H - GSO amazed me.
— Ronda B.C. (@RondaReport) April 5, 2017
@Delta great crew on DL1084 while diverted to Nashville due to weather in ATL. They are so awesome! Thanks for pizza!
— Cathy Mitchell (@CatMitch10045) April 5, 2017
@Delta thank you for delivering pizza to flight 2030. I love you.
— Zahra (@DearZahra) April 5, 2017
Stuck at the airport in Savannah because of weather in Atlanta...7 hour delay and Delta just ordered pizza for everyone! @Delta for the WIN!
— Noreen Nooner (@NoreenNooner) April 5, 2017
According to AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi, Delta typically has approximately 1,000 peak-day departures a day from Atlanta.
The Federal Aviation Administration, Delta and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport advised travelers to check their flight status to find out if theirs is affected by the storms.
Delta said it is “working diligently” to re-book customers who have been affected, Yamanouchi reported.
Cox Media Group
