Southwest Airlines has a loyal following and for good reason (with the exception of their 2022 Christmas meltdown). Southwest doesn’t charge for baggage, ticket fees and their flight attendants are super friendly and funny. RELATED: Taylor Swift’s Clever Southwest Airlines Tip For Keeping the Seat Next to You Empty
Customers can now add another attribute … they celebrate birthdays better than any other airline. In fact, the way they celebrate them is super unique and fun, which I just learned about yesterday thanks to a viral video.
In the almost two-minute video embedded below, you will see a little boy, probably around five, which is the youngest an unaccompanied minor can fly alone. He was sitting in the middle seat between two women towards the back of the plane.
@Beverlyhillsno1 posted the video to TikTok and it received over 9 million views in two days. The caption reads: “This little boy was traveling ALONE on his BIRTHDAY. So I decided to ask the flight staff for a FAVOR, to make his birthday feel less LONELY, and create a magical memory.”
@beverlyhillsno1 Heartwarming moment passengers sing to little boy flying alone on his birthday ❤️ #animals#fun#asrm#satisfying#restoration#relaxing#horses#hoof#hoofcleaning#hoofcare#cleanhorse#horsesoftiktok#hooves#cleaningtiktok#cleaning#viral#horse#horsetok#farrier#farriersoftiktok ♬ original sound – Beverly Hills Comedy Team
The video then shows the woman walking to the back of the plane and talking to the flight attendants who were creating a crown for him.
The video continued with emotional background music: “I wanted to get the whole plane involved… And we did! But I had no idea what was about to happen… This was so brilliant and heartwarming it brought me to tears.”
The video shows the flight attendants asking the little boy to come up to the front of the plane with them. It appears he had no idea what was about to happen.
“This little boy went from scared and alone…to celebrated and excited.”
You can hear the flight attendant get on the PA system and say, “This little boy is flying for the first time all by himself.”
The flight attendant asked all the passengers sitting by the window to please shut their shades to make the plane super dark and then turn on their call button lights above their head so they looked like birthday candles.
“When he realized what was happening, his face lit up with so much joy.” The whole plane sang happy birthday to him and told him to blow out the candles and then everyone shut their call buttons off one by one.
“Even though he was flying alone for the first time, we helped make it less scary and gave him a birthday to remember.”
Someone else posted the TikTok video to X/Twitter and captioned it with, “I may have just cried a little at my desk @SouthwestAir.” And Southwest Airlines social media team responded with, “Oh my goodness, this is so incredibly sweet. Someone must be cutting onions because I have tears in my eyes! 💙❤️💛 -Dakota”
Oh my goodness, this is so incredibly sweet. Someone must be cutting onions because I have tears in my eyes! 💙❤️💛 -Dakota
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) February 21, 2024
I’ve celebrated many birthdays on planes purposely because flying is one of my favorite things to do; the miracle of flight never gets old. But I’ve never had a birthday anywhere near this memorable. Kudos to the passenger and Southwest Airlines for making this happen.
Turns out, it’s not the first time this has happened on Southwest. Below is a similar video of passengers on a plane singing happy birthday to a two-year-old.
@hautepepper I’m not gonna lie I’ve had some good experiences with #Southwest #airlines flight attendants! #flightattendant #ABQ to #Vegas ♬ original sound – Pepper 💕
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