Off-duty easyJet captain heading to Alicante with his wife and son ends up flying the plane himself when he arrives at Manchester airport and discovers a two-hour delay because of staff shortages

  • Several flights from Manchester Airport delayed on Monday due to a lack of crew
  • Off-duty pilot Michael Bradley was caught up in the chaos with his wife and child 
  • Facing a delay on his flight, he offered to fly fellow passengers to Alicante, Spain
  • EasyJet said incident was 'exceptional' and stressed that Mr Bradley was rested

This is the remarkable moment an off-duty pilot offers to fly his fellow passengers to Spain - as he and his family faced a delay of around two hours.   

Michael Bradley was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Alicante with his wife and young son on Monday, but they faced delays due to a missing captain. 

Determined not to let the crew shortage affect him, he volunteered his services and took to the tannoy to inform his fellow passengers of his decision. 

Video taken by startled passenger Michelle Potts, from Denton, Greater Manchester, shows Mr Bradley receiving cheers from passengers as he broke the news.

Michael Bradley (pictured with his wife) was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Alicante with his wife and young son on Monday, but they faced delays due to a missing captain
Determined not to let the crew shortage affect him, he volunteered his services and took to the tannoy (right) to inform his fellow passengers of his decision.

Michael Bradley (left with his wife) was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Alicante with his wife and young son on Monday, but they faced delays due to a missing captain. But he took to the tannoy (right) to inform his fellow passengers that he would fly the plane himself

In it, he says: 'My wife who's on row 15 with my little boy - hopefully he's asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I'll get told off - she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said 'our flight's delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight.

'So just before we went through security I thought I wonder if this is worth a phone call. I think it is, because I'd like to go on holiday.

'I phoned up easyJet and said "Hiya, I'm standing in the terminal doing nothing. 

'I have got my licence with me - deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am - I have got my ID with me and I'd very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favour I'm standing here ready to go.'

'They said "we'll phone you back". Thirty eight seconds later they phoned me back and said "please, please pretty please with a big cherry on top, can you fly the aeroplane to Alicante?"'

Video taken by startled passenger Michelle Potts (pictured with blonde hair), from Denton, Greater Manchester, shows Mr Bradley receiving cheers from passengers as he broke the news
She took to Facebook to share video of his heroics (pictured)

Video taken by startled passenger Michelle Potts (left with blonde hair), from Denton, Greater Manchester, shows Mr Bradley receiving cheers from passengers as he broke the news. She took to Facebook to share video of his heroics (right)

Commenting on his casual dress, Mr Bradley stressed he'd 'stuck a pair of shoes on just in case'.

The pilot, who also works for easyJet, said: 'So if you're alright for one of your pilots to look like this today, we'll go to Alicante' and was met with cheers from the passengers. 

Ms Potts, who was going for a short break with her friend Jess Clayton, posted the video and said: 'It could only happen to me.

'Get to the airport and our flight is delayed a couple of hours, then I happen to look at the original time and it changed to gate closing. Had to leg it across the airport to get on the flight.

Mr Bradley (pictured) had been due to fly from Manchester Airport with his wife and young son but was delayed due to a missing captain

Mr Bradley (pictured) had been due to fly from Manchester Airport with his wife and young son but was delayed due to a missing captain

'Get to boarding and asked the guy at the desk what's going on he said "oh your pilot's gone missing but a guy that's going on your flight is going to fly the plane"

'Luckily the guy was actually a pilot!! probably would of been cancelled if it wasn't for him! Legend.'

Speaking today, she said: 'I was a bit nervous when I was first told, but once he told us on the plane I was just relieved that we weren't going to be delayed.'    

A spokesman for easyJet said the flight's delay was 'due to the knock on effects of the French ATC failure on Sunday' which impacted on crew and meant they had to rely on standbys.

He said: 'We are grateful to one of our pilots who was travelling on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on 2 September with his family and volunteered to operate the flight.

'This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew.

'This is fully in line with regulations as he had his licence and ID with him. Safety is always our highest priority.'

The spokesman said the incident was 'exceptional' and stressed that Michael was well rested, having previously had four days off, and was legally permitted to fly the aircraft.

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