What Travelers Can Learn From Emmy Award Winning Actress’ Delta Air Lines Encounter

My wife emailed me a story about an actress who arrived late to check-in for her flight and was denied boarding. She wanted to get my take and thought it might make for a good tip. RELATED: 10 Airport Security Hacks Every Traveler Needs to KnowNatalie was right as usual. As far as my take, first of all, I had no idea who Sheryl Lee was but that doesn’t matter, which is actually one of the main points of my take. I don’t mean to disrespect Sheryl Lee Ralph because she seems like a nice lady and is obviously a very talented entertainer. But when it comes to airline operations, it shouldn’t matter who you are when you roll up to an airport counter.

It's finally here! The pilot of Southwest Airlines surprised a passenger.

Here is the synopsis of what happened when she went to the airline to check her bags. There isn't anything we can do for you. It was only four minutes and I have checked in on flights later than that before.

The agent said "Oh absolutely not."

In the end of her video, she said that she was just saying that in these days and times, just be nice. We will be flying now after I bought my ticket. Thank you and be well.

Remember Divas, be as kind as you can for as long as you can! ⁦@Delta⁩ ⁦@AmericanAir⁩ pic.twitter.com/DXRv6RKxnR

— sheryl lee ralph (@thesherylralph) October 30, 2022

When I searched for her name, I found a Madame Noire article that said she was being nice-nasty to a Delta employee. I have never heard of the phrase 'nice-nasty', but I think it is appropriate to describe the video.

She didn't say if the airport was the same as the one she checked in for.

Most travelers know that airports and airline agents aren't created equal. It takes a lot more time for a bag to get to the plane at a large airport than it does at a small airport. 30 minutes before my flight used to be possible for me.

Frequent travelers can easily establish personal relationships with the agents at a small airport, but it is almost impossible at a mega airport. Some agents want to stay within the rules. They don't want to go the extra mile because they're having a bad day. You would think a three million mile flyer would make an agent do everything they can, and if they couldn't be kind about it, try to diffuse the situation. I don't know, I wasn't there. Maybe she threw a serious attitude or maybe she was being nice to the agent and he wasn't having it.

Here’s what travelers can learn from Sheryl’s situation:

1. Respect airline rules/cutoffsAirlines have cutoff times for a reason. Logistically, it’s obviously not easy to get a flight with hundreds of people and bags off on time unless you make sure everyone and their bags are planeside well before departure. Heck, I have a difficult time getting my two kids to school on time and we leave about 45 minutes prior to their school gates closing.