Delta - Flight with just one passenger

AndyBoBandy

Flew to Amsterdam one New Year’s Eve about 10-15 years ago, flight departed Dublin at about 6:10pm, there had to be no more that 10-12 passengers on board.

Davy

https://gizmodo.com/that-man-who-went-viral-claiming-he-took-a-delta-flight-1837311990

A Delta spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo that the plane never took off. “Delta Connection flight 3652 last week pushed back but shortly returned to the gate due to a maintenance issue,” a Delta statement said. “The aircraft departed a short time later without any customers on board.”

It was a private flight after all. So private that no passengers were on board.

ozzy jr

Flew from Brisbane to Singapore on an Emirates 777 and there was only a handful of people on it. Got told to stretch out, just leave the seatbelt visable so the crew wouldn't have to disturb us.

Flew from Dublin to Manchester with EI and everyone except 2 people got off. The plane continued on to Birmingham (I think). Does that sound right? If definitely continued onto another city in England.

joujoujou

Flew with Ryanair from Scotland to Dublin (don't remember now, Glasgow or Edinburgh) couple of years ago, late evening flight. On the very moment check-in was closed, all 7 passengers were at the gate, so crew let us in and we took off immediately, some 40 minutes before scheduled departure time. Quite unusual, I have to admit.

dhaughton99

The plane never actually took off with him on it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/08/15/delta-says-passenger-who-posted-viral-video-private-jet-experience-boarded-plane-that-never-took-off/

Phileas Frog

joujoujou wrote: »

Flew with Ryanair from Scotland to Dublin (don't remember now, Glasgow or Edinburgh) couple of years ago, late evening flight. On the very moment check-in was closed, all 7 passengers were at the gate, so crew let us in and we took off immediately, some 40 minutes before scheduled departure time. Quite unusual, I have to admit.

Very, especially considering Ryanair's tight turn around times. I'm putting this story into the didn't happen bucket.

PinOnTheRight

Phileas Frog wrote: »

Very, especially considering Ryanair's tight turn around times. I'm putting this story into the didn't happen bucket.

It can and does happen. Short domestic flights usually have very generous block times and it's easy to arrive 20 mins early or more on some sectors. I had a similar experience with easyJet BFS-GLA one evening, inbound arrived ridiculously early with a dozen pax, same outbound and we departed again before it was even scheduled to arrive in BFS.

Stovepipe

I was on an A330 with a total of 7 pax. Crew put us all together and we were fed like kings.........travelling in the front seat of an Islander is allowed, provided the captain has warned the punter to sit still and not touch anything. It's also common on small inter-island and remote community flights worldwide, at the discretion of the captain.

Irish Steve

Stovepipe wrote: »

I was on an A330 with a total of 7 pax. Crew put us all together and we were fed like kings.........travelling in the front seat of an Islander is allowed, provided the captain has warned the punter to sit still and not touch anything. It's also common on small inter-island and remote community flights worldwide, at the discretion of the captain.

Many years ago, there was a scheduled service from Exeter to Gatwick that was operated with a Twin Otter, and in those days, they were single crew operated, I asked for (and got) the right hand seat at the front, and the first thing the pilot did was offer me a headset, which I took. It was a great flight, and I knew enough about what was going on to not talk to him at "critical" moments.

The fact that it could almost land across the runway at Gatwick is incidental, the approach profile was "interesting" a hold at 900 Ft about 2 miles from the runway, offset from the centre line, and a quick dive in at an appropriate distance behind the preceding jet, and off the runway at what would normally be a departure point, before the next arrival that wasn't far behind us. Very slick and impressive altogether. That was when aviation was a lot more fun that it is now.

peter1892

Back around 2002/03 I took a return flight from Dublin to Galway with Aer Arann. There were maybe 5 passengers on the outbound flight and 4 on the way home again. No issues with ballast that I can remember though.

While waiting in the bar/cafe area in Galway airport to go back home I noticed that the bar-tender had to break the news to the waiting taxi drivers that there were only 5 people on the inbound flight from Dublin!

The cost of the return flight on that occasion was actually cheaper than the train...

tricky D

Once upon a couple of decades ago, I had booked a weekend in London, Fri-Sun, Ryanair to Stanstead. Got home from USIT and discovered I had been booked outwards on Thurs so went and got that fixed to the Fri. After a great weekend concert-going with zero luggage I rocked up for the last Dublin flight on the Sun only to be told the ticket is for Mon night as USIT moved the Sun to Mon when correcting the original error and that the Sunday flight was full. The staff were sympathetic but unable to help.

So there I am stuck in Stanstead with £10 sterling and £10 punts and some change (no cards) to survive on and with sleeping on tiles being the only option. As a true Irishman, I opt to spend some of my very limited funds on a pint and after getting the UK pub chuck out I'm wandering an emptying airport to see if there is even the smallest bit of anything better than tiles when I get called to the Ryanair desk at around 23.45. Rock up and wait for ages until a door in a wall opens and some one asks am I the fella looking to get to Dublin. I confirm and get escorted down the long long way to a Ryanair positioning back to Dublin. Welcome on board and get to hang out in the cockpit most of the way. Impossible these days.

Icing on the cake.
So back in Dublin at 1am in the morning at a time of night when the airport was dead in those days, so no taxis or transport. Besides I have only a tenner and will have to walk towards Santry to hail one to the City Centre. So I light up a cigarette outside the terminal while figuring out options. Being back almost home I have a huge grin on my dial when some bloke comes out and lights up too and starts a chat. I tell him my story and taxi dilemma, only to end up getting a lift to the door. So 2 hours after reckoning on having to sleep on tiles, I am at home cracking open a few beers. Lucked out!

Nicetrustedcup

Never been that lucky to be on a flight by myself.

However a few months back I was on a flybe flight a Embraer 175.

And I think there was barely 20 people on the flight.

To make it worse I got stuck beside the girlfirend on that flight!!!.

Credit Checker Moose

I was on a 777 from PEK-LHR with only 58 on it. It was surreal.