United could learn a thing or two from this friendly pilot
Now this is flying the friendly skies.
An overwhelmed mom flying on Finnair with four kids had her hands full — but an off-duty pilot took control by feeding one of her babies.
Finnair Capt. Tom Nystrom offered to hold one of the woman’s infants, who appeared to be on cloud nine as the amiable airman dutifully held up a bottle.
“I have children of my own… so it came natural to me to help this customer with her babies,” Nystrom, who was on the flight as a passenger, told the Independent.
Nystrom even swapped kids with the mom when others in her brood became fussy.
The airborne act of kindness stood in stark contrast with United’s ejection of a passenger to make room for an airlines crew member, a violent act that sparked a public-relations debacle.
Flight attendant Ami Niemela lavished praise on Nystrom and her other airborne colleagues.
“Naturally one cannot travel with two babies on one’s lap, so we had to solve the dilemma of missing lap, otherwise it would have been a no go for mom and the kids,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Luckily we had our positioning crew on board and wonderful Tom took the task of being the extra-lap. Don’t you find them quite adorable!”
When they landed at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Niemela posted an adorable photo of the uniformed captain smiling at the camera as the chubby-cheeked baby gazed at him.
“Acts of kindness, priceless,” an Instagram user posted.
Another took a swipe at embattled United Airlines, which has faced a fierce backlash across the globe for yanking Dr. David Dao, 69, from his seat and leaving him battered and bruised.
“United airlines beats their customers while finnair takes care of even babies,” wrote isabelbjon.
Finland’s flag carrier capitalized on the heart-warming act by posting a message on its official Twitter account.
“Kudos to our purser @finami & pilot Tom! Story about a pilot looking after a baby is simply adorable,” tweeted Finnair, which last month was awarded Best European Airline at the TTG China Travel Awards for the second year in a row.