CEO's witty reply to employee who took $3,000 to miss a flight: 'That’s better than our bonus'

Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight were in for a surprise when the crew offered them thousands of dollars in exchange for getting off it. Two passengers got $3,000 each, while several others before them were handed out $1,700 credits, bringing the total compensation to a whopping $43,400.

One of the lucky ones who got the sweet deal said that he was on the 7:50 am flight from Chicago to Seattle the morning after Easter. As soon as he took his seat, a gate agent walked up to him and said that they were offering $3,000 to those willing to get off the flight due to "fuel rebalancing issues."

The man says he could not believe what he was hearing and immediately agreed. He then learned that another passenger was given a $2,000 credit and another $1,000 credit. 

Also Read: Rowdy woman pushed flight attendant who fell on another passenger. The airline has been sued

Apparently, the Delta flight's problems were bigger than thought, as these two weren't the only two passengers who ended up with money in their pockets on this day. A total of 22 passengers had already been given $1,700 to deboard the flight. Even after getting 22 people to voluntarily exit the flight, they noticed they were short by at least two more passengers. The last two of them ended up with an even sweeter deal.

The man was taking the flight back to work, but had no qualms about being late to work. In fact, when he told the CEO that he won't make it in time because of all the money he got, he replied, "That’s better than our bonus structure." 

That's one cool boss.

Meanwhile, the passenger said that most of those who had accepted the offer were able to get on a flight about two to three hours later. 

Also Read: Southwest flight crew confuse taxiway for runway at Florida airport, almost fly off

This is not the first time that an airline has offered compensation to passengers. However, what makes this time special is the generous amount of money that was given away. As per rules, the airline needs to reimburse 400 per cent of one-way fare, not to exceed $2,150. 

Besides, according to View From The Wing, Delta did not need to offer any compensation at all since the overbooking happened because of an aircraft swap. "It was a smaller plane, and Delta had fewer seats. And when that happens, airlines aren’t required to compensate passengers at all," the report stated. 

But Delta went out of its way to compensate the passengers, and is going viral for the gesture.