As someone who has spent many a night inside an airline terminal, I find this passenger’s approach to a delay somewhat genius. 🙂 Check out this passenger who was thinking ahead and prepared himself for a delay with his Delta flight!
Delta Passenger Brought His Own Air Mattress and Slept at the Gate
Orlando, FL has faced a bunch of delays lately, most recently due to fuel shortages at the airport. As a result, passengers have faced uncertain delays and even cancellations on various airlines. If you have lounge access, those can be softened a little but when a flight is delayed, passengers are always told to stay near the gate in case they are able to take off earlier than the delay would suggest.
This passenger was totally ready for that! He brought his own blow-up air mattress with him and inflated that thing right at the gate so he could catch some sleep before his short flight from Orlando to Atlanta. These things are small enough now that it could fit in a carry-on bag and, for someone wanting to be comfortable no matter what, it certainly worked out well for him! I am sure there was a measure of both disgust and delight with other passengers – with some wishing they had thought of something like that!
Orlando hits hard. @paulyhoward @MitchMossRadio @dustinswedelson pic.twitter.com/WSFFcAIZua
— General Mitchy Moss (@badpeatmoss) December 13, 2022
I love the slippers as well! Haha!
I have slept under benches a few times at airports (did that twice on back-to-back nights in Seattle’s airport during a mileage run back in the day) and even slept on the tile floor (with a piece of my clothing protecting me from the direct contact with the floor) at Chicago’s O’Hare airport during a weather cancellation that saw all hotels booked up and me on the wrong side of security (I eventually went and slept for a while in the carpeted tunnel to the Hilton).
But, my biggest concern for this passenger is falling into too deep of a sleep and missing the flight! I almost missed one before when I had done a mileage run to Tokyo. I had a 17 hour layover so I hit the city for a while and then back to the airport.
Since I had not slept at all, I fell asleep in the boarding area on a chair. I was so soundly asleep, that it took a kind Delta boarding agent gently shaking me to get me up. I woke to find all my fellow passengers had already boarded and I was the only one left! The good thing is that I was upgraded to business class so I was able to get some serious sleep on the way to Detroit. 🙂
I wonder how long before this kind of thing catches on and airlines start banning air mattresses in carry-ons? It would be a somewhat funny thing if something like this ever happened with such a carry-on (from the iconic Dick Van Dyke show)
Air mattress guy for the WIN!!