For One Brief Moment Passengers Spontaneously Cheered On Board an Emirates Flight

When I was young flying was an exciting experience. My mother made me dress up for fights. I wore a jacket and tie crossing the country as an unaccompanied minor in the late 1970s.

Flying has become increasingly accessible and democratic around the world. More people than ever have access to the skies but load factors are up, airlines are squeezing more seats into the same amount of space, and looking for areas to cut back on costs.

That’s why it’s so uplifting to see small kindnesses, individual humanity coming out to help fellow passengers in need like an Alaska Airlines employee buying a stranded woman a ticket, a spontaneous circle of women helping to calm an hysterical mother and her son at LAX, or a 15 year old dyslexic girl coming to the aid of a deaf and blind passenger inflight.

And it’s why little touches from a flight attendant can feel so special.

So when we see passengers spontaneously break out cheering? That video will go viral with millions of views on Facebook, for sure. And that alone may be enough reason to justify an airline’s investment in inflight entertainment.

Several airlines streamed the World Cup live inflight.

And one person on an Emirates flight caught the moment that Eric Dier “scored the final spot kick that secured England’s victory and advancement to the quarter finals” besting Colombia.

I haven’t been nearly as attached to any sports team as I was to the New York Mets as a child. Player strikes growing up demystified the sport for me, but I love watching feats of greatness — and I love watching passengers come together in joy at the same moment up in the air.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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