Passenger Amazes Flight Attendant by Drawing Her Mid-Flight: 'Spread Joy'

An airline passenger gained viral attention after brightening a flight attendant's day with a thoughtful impromptu gift.

The air industry runs on a 24/7 schedule, which means air staff work in shifts at unusual times. Flight attendants can work between 12 to 14 hours a day, although on international flights, a shift may be longer.

Spending around 75 to 100 hours a month in the air, attendants are not only there to serve drinks but also perform duties such as writing reports and waiting for planes to arrive.

Jeff Lai Pin Nean, who styles himself as Jeff Lai online, is from Singapore and is currently doing an exchange program at the University of Maryland. Lai, 24, has been drawing portraits since he was around 14 years old but has just recently started gifting drawings to strangers.

"Around May this year I started doing sketches for everyday people and surprising them as a small gift," Lai told Newsweek. "The story with the Japan Airlines flight attendant is particularly memorable."

He said that during the flight, he noticed the attendant looked unwell and was frowning frequently, but continued to smile and show high energy while serving passengers.

"It was painful to watch," Lai said. "I wanted to cheer her up, so I made a drawing for her and went to the cabin space to present it to her just before we landed. She was joyously surprised."

In the video, which has been viewed 1.7 million times, the flight attendant gushes as Lai hands her the drawing and says "Thank you so much."

After gifting his drawing to the flight attendant, Lai was even more surprised about what happened next.

Before leaving the plane at his destination, the flight attendant stopped Lai and gifted him a bag including a thank-you note, some souvenirs, and her own drawing in return.

"I have made so many drawings, but this is the most emotional one," Lai said. "It really made my day and encourages me to spread joy and kindness further."

In hundreds of comments, viewers rushed to share their reactions to the sweet encounter.

One TikTok user wrote: "This is so wholesome," while another said: "Love this. A friendly reminder to always be nice to your flight attendants and they will always take care of you."

"I would put that on my fridge so proudly," said another commenter.

Another viewer wrote: "Her drawing of you—that's so cute."

"I didn't expect it to have so many views and reactions on social media," Lai said after his video gained viral attention. "I was just doing what I enjoy. It is very inspiring to see all the comments people left, sharing their unique experiences with flight attendants and how much they appreciate their work. I am genuinely happy and grateful that this video has reached so many people."