• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Retail

This airline employee is a hero for saving a helpless passenger

By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 24, 2015, 10:14 AM ET
Airplane Takeoffs And Landings At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
CHICAGO - OCTOBER 25: An Alaska Airlines airplane, taxis up the runway to prepare for takeoff at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on OCTOBER 25, 2012. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)Photograph by Raymond Boyd—Getty Images

An Alaska Airlines employee is getting big accolades for helping a Delta passenger make it home.

The employee in question dipped into her own pocket to pay for Miriam Thomas to get home after Delta canceled her ticket just as she was about to get on a plane to return home after a business trip, local news station News1130 reported:

“I went back through security, back to the customer service desk and that’s when it started to get crazy. The Alaska Airlines people were trying to figure out why Delta had cancelled my flight, Delta was trying to figure out what had happened. I was just standing at the desk with my bags seriously hoping I can get on some flight that day.”

She says after an hour of standing at the desk, she found out what happened. “When they had the mechanical maintenance and we ended up in Seattle and had to spend the night in a hotel there, they used the rest of the value of my entire ticket on that rescheduled flight that morning so there was no more money for me to fly home. They didn’t tell me that.”

Eventually, an Alaska Airlines employee named Judy paid for Thomas’ new flight, saying she was “paying it forward.” Judy may have also earned her company a new customer for life — Thomas said she was now “an Alaska Airlines convert.”

 

About the Author
By Ben Geier
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Retail

HealthFood and drink
Chains like Sweetgreen and Chipotle are finally realizing they need to look beyond the ‘slop bowl’
By Phil WahbaFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
burger king
AIOpenAI
Burger King tests OpenAI-powered headsets that will track the friendliness of drive-through workers
By Dee-Ann Durbin and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
Two restaurant workers wearing black stand in front of a silver "Flippy" fry station.
AIAutomation
Meet your new robot fry cooks: Inside the $28 billion race to disrupt White Castle and Jack in the Box
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
Customers in the electronics section at Walmart on Black Friday in Columbus, Ohio, US, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Americans are planning to spend more this holiday season than last year, according to credit reporting firm TransUnion. Photographer: Brian Kaiser/Bloomberg via Getty Images
C-SuiteLeadership
McKinsey studied 61 growth companies that outperformed their peers through COVID, inflation, and labor shocks. Here’s what they all had in common
By Geoff ColvinFebruary 26, 2026
3 days ago
The Home Depot storefront
InvestingHome Depot
Home Depot CEO says with the housing market stalemate, ‘our customers are telling us that they’re not investing’
By Jacqueline MunisFebruary 25, 2026
4 days ago
CommentaryCulture
Gen Z’s enthusiasm for all things touchable is resurrecting the analog economy—and costing parents
By Luba KassovaFebruary 24, 2026
4 days ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Japanese companies are paying older workers to sit by a window and do nothing—while Western CEOs demand super-AI productivity just to keep your job
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Walmart exec says U.S. workforces needs to take inspiration from China where ‘5 year-olds are learning DeepSeek’
By Preston ForeFebruary 27, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Middle East
Iran is now on 'death ground' amid existential threat from U.S. attacks and could 'go big' in retaliation, former NATO commander warns
By Jason MaFebruary 28, 2026
7 hours ago
placeholder alt text
AI
The week the AI scare turned real and America realized maybe it isn't ready for what's coming
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
15 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of February 27, 2026
By Danny BakstFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Law
China's government intervenes to show Michigan scientists were carrying worms, not biological materials
By Ed White and The Associated PressFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.