Tales of airlines and their staff going above and beyond the call for passengers have been few and far between this summer especially, but one pilot really did do the right thing earlier this week in the view of one family.
Despite his passenger jet being "ready to take off", the captain turned the plane around on the runway to go back to the gate and pick up a father and his daughter who missed the flight after the girl lost her passport.
Adrian Insley, 38, and his seven-year-old daughter from Ilkeston, near Nottingham in England, were prevented from boarding a Tui flight from Tenerife in the Canary Islands to East Midlands Airport because they couldn't find the girl's passport, the family told ITV News.
The pair stayed behind while Insley's partner, three other children, and parents boarded the flight.
After her passport was found in a duty-free shopping bag, the plane had already left the gate, ITV reported.
Flight attendants on the plane initially said the pair could try and board the next flight to Manchester, but then spoke to the captain who agreed to return to pick the pair up from the gate, Adrian's mother Sharon, 60, told ITV News.
"At this point, we were ready to take off, it was right before the runway," Sharon Insley said. "I was gobsmacked because I have never ever in all my time flying, ever known that they can come back for you."
The airline even managed to put her son's luggage on board despite initially saying it would not be possible.
It's a positive story in a summer of travel misery for many passengers globally. Labor shortages, exacerbated by the pandemic, have left airlines and airports struggling to cope with the surging return of travel demand, resulting in flight cancellations, hours-long delays, and missing baggage.
The flight on August 26, during a UK holiday weekend, had already been delayed, and the airport was busy with three other flights to Britain, Adrian Insley told ITV News.
Tui did not immediately respond to Insider's approach for comment.
Sharon Insley said she'd tried to thank the airline, but could only find a complaints site.
"When all you hear about the travel is doom and gloom, we just wanted to share some exceptional customer service our family encountered over the bank holiday weekend," she told ITV.