Emptiest flight you've ever flown?
 

What's the emptiest flight you've ever been on?

I was on a Delta MD80 last December from Atlanta to Houston that had about 20 people on it.

Empty Flight
 

MD-88 from LGA to ATL, New Years eve 1998, man that plane will move empty on a cold night. I was the only passenger, spooky!

I was the only person in a Warrior once...

But seriously, probably an A319 from MHT to DTW. Almost an empty flight, and we got vectored for a very long final, so we pretty much just descended straight and level down from cruise on to the numbers :cool:. There were no clouds, and it was just too cool :)

Are you talking about domestic or international? Recent or long past flights?

6 months before PanAm closed its doors, my husband and I took one of its mighty 747s to London. Like your DAL flight, it also only had about 20 people on board. I feel sad just thinking about it again, that a great airline like that is now no more.

btw, I still have one of its small bars of soap. Great piece of nostalgia.

Within 5-6 months of 9/11, on a SAAB 340 from MEM to my hometown of PFN...

Its ME. That's right, me...and one flight attendant. I tried to strech out across the back row of 5 seats and sleep, but she came back to chat (was fairly new and didn't hate all pilots yet) and we had a nice talk. I thanked the entire crew for my personal plane to take me home from a long night of work.

I was able to lay down on an Alaska flight from Seatac to Anchorage. I don't really remember how many people were on it but I could have probably sat anywhere i wanted on the plane without sitting next to somone.

between kcvg to klga...2 pax...in an E135 it climbed like a rocketship.

I flew a 319 on a charter from KFLL to San Salvador in the Bahamas with 14 people.

On a SWA 737 from SNA-SMF on the 4th of July a couple years ago...about 10 people total. All except for me sat in the first 5 rows.

Also, on a USAIR 757 from SNA-PHX...about 15 people scattered throughout. That thing blasted off the runway for that noise abatement procedure.

About six people on a DL 727 from Albuquerque to El Paso. We all got bumped to First Class.

Flew on a DL flight to Stuttgart that was about 25% full. I missed the mad dash for the three middle seats after dinner and the first movie. That would have given me an entire row to lay across and sleep on, but I still had my window and aisle seat to myself and no one infront of me dropping their seat in my lap.

I flew a flight from GRB to ORD with no passengers. I also had a flight with 1 person and we were delayed with a mechanical.

After a long delay for a AVL-ATL we had one passenger who was determined to make his international connection, I think he made it...

After another mechanical delay they had all of our passengers put on another flight from HHH to ATL, that one was empty.

I flew a C-2 full of toliet paper out to the USS George Washington during deployment, it was HIGH PRI cargo. We were "cubed" out on space and only had 100 lbs of cargo!

YOW to PHL

Gendex listed 0 passengers and 3 crew members

Capt., me, and fa.

No joke.

Ferry flights count?

If so, I've had some empty ones and some full ones...

I flew a scheduled flight the other day from Springfield, MO to DFW with zero pax. Whats worse, is that our crew was deadheaded in to fly this flight. Not a repo or MX flight either.

as a pax: 6 people on a 738 from BOS to EWR. Working, zero pax more than once a few 1 pax runs and a handful of under 5.

When I flew freight, I had a 3-5lb box from IND to IAH, in my C310. Best yet, that box contained simple pins with flags attached, to check the rigging on a E170!!! The next morning of course was a dead-head back home to Indiana.

EMB145XR Montreal-sEWeR, significant weather delays, most everyone got on the earlier flight, 1 PAX with a carry-on. I think I only zero-G'd him once (That thing is a rocket ship empty).

While a pax, I've been the only person a few times, but then I deliberately attempt to take the empty flights.

747 from islamabad to shanghai...souls onboard 45 including crew but this was 1986.

On a flight from Brussels to Atlanta on a Delta 767 I had the entire first class section to myself. Seems Delta was about to cancel the flight and all the first class passengers went to an American flight. Then Delta got whatever problem fixed and we launched. 9 hour flight all to myself. The only thing that would have made the flight more perfect was if the flight attendant would have been a 21 year old hot chick instead of a dude............

I was the only passenger on a B1900 once from PHX to PRC.

I've flown empty passenger flights, but the one I remember had one person on board. I got his name from a flight attendant and made all my PA's to him personally. It was like he had his own personal jet. :)

I'd say it was back in '95. My dad & I were returning to PBI on a DAL L-1011 from ATL. The flight originated in DCA on a MD-88. The leg from ATL to PBI, there were about 40 people on the entire aircraft!


atp

Ive carried 1 person on an E145 from SBN to ORD.

TWA from DAY to STL commuting in for an early show the next morning I was the only person on a baby 9 (DC9-10)

This happened at least 3 times.

MDW-IND on SWA back in 2001. There were about 8 of us.

1 pax. I cant remember the flight, but the airplane was a Emb 145.

I heard of a repo flight with just the flight attendants onboard where the pilots rolled the airplane upside down a few times and after they landed there was no one in the back. True story. Not.

I had a flight on a 777 from Denver to San Fransisco back in December 2001 that had less than 10 people on board. I got to sleep across all three center seats ^^. Now that I think back on this, I regret it, (those seats must have been pretty dirty).

I was on a solo cross country from Avon Park to Ft Meyers in a 150, back in '78. It was two hours of me, by myself. Emptiest flight I've ever been on...

We used to do a US Air express (legacy) from RDU-PHL at 0515 AM...the only people who ever got on that flight were 1-3 nonrevs. There was a later flight which would make all connections in PHL.

We finally figured out there were a couple of uber-senior airways CA's who obviously knew somebody high up...we were operating their personal air-taxi. No wonder the went BK so many times :rolleyes:

my last flight at american eagle had 0 passengers. it was the late flight from tortola bvi back to san juan. took a full boat out and nothing coming back.

So even if you have no passengers they make you fly the plane and waste fuel and time?

On a related note, have any of you guys ever seen/heard/participated in tray surfing?

At a previous airline job, one of the CA's told me a story about how he jumped on a UA non-rev/ferry flight where he happened to be pals with the cockpit crew. Supposedly, on take-off, he and another j/s'er attempted to see how far down the aisle they could surf on a galley service tray. :eek:

People are waiting at the other end for that empty plane.

Also airlines are trying to keep their completion factor as high as they can, especially regionals so they can hopefully win some more flying.

DTW-MSP on a 744 with 15 on board and BOS-MSP on a DC10 with 5 of us on board.

I've done something similar at ATL on the tram that runs between concourses. That thing moves pretty damn quick. :D

Without a doubt, the emptiest, and quietest flight AND airport ever...

Date: September 13th, 2001.
Location: St. Louis, Lambert Field
Acft type: B717
Route: STL - DAY
Acft Configuration: 106 seats
Pax onboard: 0

What a horrible day...