A dad booked himself on six flights so that he could spend time with his flight attendant daughter over Christmas.
Pierce Vaughan is a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. This year, she was rostered to work over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on six flights.
Her father, Hal Vaughan, decided he would travel on all six flights so that Pierce would not miss out on family time.
As part of Delta Airlines’ employee benefits, parents can travel for free within the country, on a space-available basis, “which means you receive seats only if space is available after all revenue passengers have been boarded.”
Pierce shared in a Facebook post that it was a “Christmas miracle” that her father was able to get a first class seat on one of the flights, which was traveling from Florida to Michigan.
On that flight, Hal shared his story with a passenger who was sitting next to him.
The passenger, Mike Levy, later shared Hal’s story on Facebook. The post showed a selfie of himself and Hal, as well as a photo of Pierce in her Delta Airlines uniform.
I had the pleasure of sitting next to Hal on my flight back home. His daughter Pierce was our flight attendant who had…
由 Mike Levy 发布于 2018年12月24日周一
“I had the pleasure of sitting next to Hal on my flight back home. His daughter Pierce was our flight attendant who had to work over Christmas,” Levy wrote, accompanied by a sad-face emoticon.
“Hal decided he would spend the holiday with her. So, he is flying on each of her flights today and tomorrow around the country to spend time with his daughter for Christmas,” he added, this time accompanied by a happy face emoticon.
“What a fantastic father! Wish you both a very Merry Christmas!”
Levy’s Facebook post has since trended online, with many comments calling the story awesome, sweet, and amazing.
“What a wonderful Christmas gift for both of them,” one person wrote.
“She is lucky she has family that loves her so much,” another person commented.
“You’re a great father Hal and thank you Delta Airlines,” said another.
Mother ‘Took One For the Team’
When Pierce graduated as a flight attendant, Hal was the one to pin the wings on her uniform, according to 11 Alive.
In June this year, just a few months after Pierce started working, Hal broke his neck and had to undergo surgery, and for some time, was unable to walk or feed himself. There was a chance he would never walk again.
After months of hard work and physical therapy, Hal regained strength and mobility, which enabled him to travel with his daughter when it came around to the Christmas season.
Pierce’s mother shared with Levy in a Facebook comment that he is “constantly working every day to regain his strength” and still has a long way to go but the family is proud of him.
Pierce acknowledged her mother’s efforts in making this family time possible.
Pierce told 11 Alive: “I’d just never been without my parents on Christmas, so my mom took one for the team and stayed home with all of the pets so he could take his first trip since the accident with me.”