A video of a passenger sending a fictional apology note from a pilot to other travelers following a flight delay has gone viral on TikTok.
The footage was shared by @joshcookz and has had 19 million views since it was posted on May 6.
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A message overlaid on the clip says: "The flight was delayed for 2.5 hours, so I airdropped everyone an apology of the pilot."
The video shows a man accessing AirDrop, Apple's wireless service allowing users to share files with each other, on a mobile phone. On the AirDrop screen, the man is seen sharing a file with other users. The phone screen then shows an image of a pilot with his torso sticking out of a plane window. A note across the image reads "Sorry about the delay lol I dropped my keys."
@joshcookz Airdropping picture of pilot picture on airplane prank
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The post comes as air travel sees continued growth in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. The total passenger demand for airline services, including both international and domestic travel, in March was reported to have risen by 13.8 percent from March 2023, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported in May.
At the time of reporting on Thursday, there are reported to be a total of 1,404 flight delays and 182 cancellations within, into or out of the U.S., according to FlightAware, the flight tracking website.
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In February, there were a total of 26,556 air carrier delays, 26,103 national aviation system delays and 2,395 extreme weather delays reported among 10 major U.S. airlines, according to the latest Air Travel Consumer Report published in April by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT),
The DOT noted: "Airlines are required to have and adhere to assurances that they will not allow aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights without providing passengers the option to deplane, subject to exceptions related to safety, security, and air traffic control related reasons.
"An exception also exists for departure delays if the airline begins to return the aircraft to a suitable disembarkation point to deplane passengers by those times. The department investigates extended tarmac delays," the DOT adds.
'Crying Real Tears'
TikTok users were floored by the flight prank in the latest viral video.
User @nattmckee said: "@Molly Ibbitson I'm crying real tears."
Yellowdahliabobbin simply wrote "Haha" and Bobajob noted "Course u did dear."
"1000 percent class," said user515006787355 and st4rs_l3vix noted "Wish i had that, my flight delayed 9+ hours."
User @jglol01 wrote: "@Stormi I should've done this."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel and health.
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