I noted last week that one of the greatest perks of working for an airline is flying for free, but  flexibility and patience are a must because things happen.

Though non-revving to and from Florida over Spring Break is nigh on impossible, Tammy and her family manage to make it work. They split up, they sit on jumpseats, they take circuitous routes...whatever it takes, they get there.

At vacation's end, it is just Tammy and her son Spence hoping for a seat on the first flight back to Detroit. They aren't feeling hopeful. Every flight is overbooked. There is a good chance they will be spending a long, futile day at the airport, before trying again the next morning. All they can do is wait patiently in the gate area and pray for a miracle.

The harried gate agents are busy loading and unloading one overbooked flight after another when they get word a crew member has become sick. Without the FAA required minimum crew, the flight can't go out. Talk about a nightmare! I'm sure those poor agents were bracing themselves for the raging lunatics who simply cannot accept that things happen.

Tammy is sitting in the gate area oblivious to the calamitous situation brewing at the podium when she gets a call from crew scheduling:

Would there be ANY possibility she'd be willing to work the flight to Detroit? 
Of course she would! But she was traveling with her son, would they be able to ensure a seat for him? 
To avoid stranding 200 people? A no-brainer! Of course they'd get him a seat!!

Tammy boarded the airplane to brief with the crew, while her son waited in the gate area to board with the rest of the passengers.

He told her later the agent made an announcement explaining a crew member had become sick and if not for a vacationing flight attendant willing to work they would have had to cancel the flight. She wasn't in uniform (obviously), but not to worry, she was fully trained and qualified.

Many passengers expressed their gratitude to Tammy. After the service, a woman came back to the galley and personally thanked her; her mother was in hospice and if the flight had cancelled she would have missed the chance to say good-bye to her.

Back in the galley, Tammy shared the story of her friend Cindy, a fellow flight attendant in dire circumstances due to an unexpected illness. One of the flight attendants was so touched she grabbed her wallet and gave Tammy a hundred dollars to give to her.

When they landed, Tammy called Cindy to tell her she'd be leaving money in her mailbox and Cindy burst into tears because that very day she'd received notice that her electricity would be turned off unless she came up with a hundred dollars.

I love stories like this, such clear evidence of God working behind the scenes. He used Tammy's availability and sweetness to answer prayers that day, including her own prayers that she and Spence might get on that flight. Gotta love it!