A pilot for Frontier Airlines treated passengers to free pizza when their flight was diverted and delayed by a couple of hours due to storms.
The passengers, who would have been hungry and grumpy due to the flight troubles, were undoubtedly appeased by the free pizza.
Flight 719, which was bound for Denver, was diverted to Cheyenne, where the plane had to stay for a couple of hours.
Andrew Ritchie, the manager for Domino's Pizza in Cheyenne, told the Associated Press that as he was just about to close the store on Monday, July 7 at 10 p.m., a call came in.
The call was made by Gerhard Bradner, who was the captain of the Frontier Airlines Airbus A320 airplane that was diverted. Perhaps he didn't want an airplane full of unsettled passengers, or perhaps he was hungry himself and decided to treat everyone else on his flight. Either way, Ritchie was surprised by the sudden big order.
"I put my hand over the phone and I said: 'Guys, you're coming back,'" Ritchie said to his employees that were already about to go home.
Ritchie said that his crew made and delivered 35 pizzas to the airport, where flight attendants were waiting for the pizzas.
A passenger told KUSA-TV that the pizzas were given to them while they waited for the flight to depart on the tarmac. A picture taken by one of the passengers showing the flight attendants handing out the free pizzas was also sent to KUSA-TV.
Frontier Airlines also confirmed the story.
The Denver-bound plane came from the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Inclement weather in the Mile High City area forced the aircraft to change their course to southern Wyoming at around 6:40 p.m. ET. The flight took off for Denver at around 10:30 p.m. ET right after the passengers received their free pizzas.
Ritchie said that the 35 pizzas that they delivered was the store's one-hour capacity. However, they were required to finish the order in about 30 minutes, which didn't dampen the spirits of his co-workers.
"Actually, they were super excited. They had a blast. It was a challenge," Ritchie said. "It was definitely one of those 'challenge accepted' moments in time."
Flight 719 was just one of the dozens that experienced delays on Monday evening because of inclement weather in the Colorado area. However, it was the only flight wherein the pilot treated his passengers to free pizza.
