Dad hailed 'legend' after flying easyJet plane 'missing a captain' to Spain
11.11.2023 - 19:59
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A dad was hailed as a "legend" after flying an easyJet plane to Spain when the pilot didn't show up. Michael Bradley was hoping to jet off to Alicante in Spain with his family in 2019, however they were hit with delays after boarding the aircraft.
It soon emerged the grounded plane was a result of the airline being "one captain down". As Michael is a pilot with easyJet himself, he rang his bosses and volunteered to take the plane 1,500 miles or so south.
At the time, Manchester Evening News reported that the company agreed and the flight left the UK. Before the plane left Manchester Airport, Michael addressed the passengers over the speaker system.
He said: "My wife, who's on row 15 with my little boy - hopefully he's asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I'll get told off - she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said 'our flight's delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight'....
"So just before we went through security, I thought 'I wonder if this is worth a phone call', I think it is because I'd like to go on holiday. I phoned up easyJet and said 'Hiya, I'm standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my licence with me - deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am - I have got my ID with me and I'd very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favour I'm standing here ready to go.
"They said 'we'll phone you back'. Thirty eight seconds later they phoned me back and said 'please, please pretty please with a big cherry on top, can you fly the aeroplane to Alicante'?"
Michelle Potts, who was on the flight with her friend Jess Clayton, posted a video on Facebook of his announcement. The mum, of Denton, Greater Manchester, said passengers