A Delta Air pilot may have just taken the award for the best retirement party of the year after he reportedly hired an entire Airbus A330 widebody aircraft to fly 100 of his closest friends and family for a blowout celebration before returning the aircraft safely back to Delta for its next commercial flight.
Chartering a commercial airliner isn’t, of course, unheard but while we’re used to big-name sports teams hiring planes for special events, it’s quite something else for an individual to get their hands on a long-haul jet normally used for flying passengers as far afield as London, Paris or Tokyo.
According to multiple sources, the lucky pilot was Captain Keith Rosenkranz, a veteran aviator who has flown for Delta Air Lines since 1991.
Funnily enough, Captain Rosenkranz is qualified to fly the Airbus A330, and he somehow managed to get his hands on a roughly two-year-old A330neo in a special ‘Team USA’ livery.
According to aviation insider JonNYC on X, it’s customary for retiring pilots to be allowed to pick a flight of their choice, although Captain Rosenkranz took his retirement flight plans to the next level.
Along with close friends and family, Captain Rosenkranz even reportedly invited other pilots who had retired during the pandemic who hadn’t been allowed or able to have their own retirement flights because of virus restrictions.
According to flight tracking website, FlightRadar24, the A330neo chartered by Captain Rosenkranz arrived into Los Angeles from Tokyo on Sunday and then the following day it flew out to Dallas with a special flight number.
After stopping off in Dallas, the flight then made its way back to Los Angeles before flying onto Kona, Hawaii. The aircraft then remained in Hawaii for a while day as Captain Rosenkranz and his entourage partied before it made the return flight following the same route on Wednesday.
After the aircraft landed back in Los Angeles, Captain Rosenkranz was even treated to a water gun salute by the airport fire brigade.
How much the charter set Captain Rosenkranz back remains a closely guarded secret, while the aircraft is already scheduled to operate its next commercial flight for Delta on Thursday with a 12-hour flight to Tokyo.
Sadly, Delta wasn’t willing to share any further details about this incredible story, telling us in a statement: “As a matter of policy we do not comment on private customer or charter movements.”
Since when is Delta Air Lines referred to as Delta Air? Seems like a we’re trying to make “Fetch” happen.