Delta Airlines Pilot Leaves Note Detailing His ‘Chilling’ Experience

A Delta Airlines pilot found a note describing a pilot’s experience, which he referred to as “chilling.”

On June 1, First Officer Nick Perez, who’s been with the company for roughly five years, found a handwritten letter from another First Officer. At the time, Perez was getting ready to bring one of Delta’s grounded A321 aircraft out of storage at California’s Victorville Airport when he noticed the letter.

According to Fox 8, the plane had been sitting in the facility for over a year as COVID-19 had affected the demand for its use.

The note left behind was from the previous First Officer, Chris Dennis. On March 23, 2020, Dennis flew the A321 to Victorville from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP). In his letter, he detailed his feelings toward seeing several out-of-service aircrafts.

“Hey, pilots — It’s March 23, and we just arrived from MSP. Very chilling to see so much of our fleet here in the desert,” wrote Dennis. “If you are here to pick it up, then the light must be at the end of the tunnel. Amazing how fast it changed. Have a safe flight bringing it out of storage!”

Dennis ended up telling Delta he didn’t know he was transporting the plane to go into storage along with others. “I thought about how many people’s jobs rely on just one of those airplanes,” Dennis told Delta. “From the reservations agent to the ticket agent, to the pilot, flight attendants, mechanics, the ramp crew. Then you go a level deeper: the rental car agency, the hotels, the tourism companies.”

He then took it to Facebook, comparing the situation to 9/11. “It is horrifying,” he wrote of the pandemic’s effect on the travel industry. “Please stay inside, social distance, and let this blow over quickly.”