For those of us who haven’t raided the Cave of Wonders for mystical trinkets and sentient rugs, an international race against the clock is just about the most stressful situation you can imagine. Such was the scenario actress Mikayla Renfrow found herself in when she was told she needed to play Jasmine in that evening’s performance of Aladdin. Sounds like an exciting opportunity, yes? The only problem was she was in Europe at the time and only had about four hours to get to Broadway.
On her way back from a European vacation, Renfrow found out the revelation mid-flight, even though it looked impossible for her to arrive at the show, beginning at 7pm, when her plane landed around 5pm. In a miracle that you’d imagine only Robin Williams’ Genie could achieve, however, the staff on this Delta Airlines flight managed to pull out all the stops to get Renfrow to the ball performance on time, including moving her up to first class, escorting her through customs, and shipping her over the Hudson on a helicopter.
With the inspirational music running throughout and each and every Delta employee she encountered going above and beyond to aid Mikayla in her epic journey (Leisha the flight attendant even came to see the show!), this TikTok could play as an actual ad for the company and you wouldn’t blink. “[Delta] just found their new commercial,” wrote one commenter, maybe giving Delta’s advertisers ideas in the process. On the other hand, others found this whole thing ironic given their own less-Disneyfied experiences with the airline: “Delta once lost my suitcase and then told me it was my fault. Happy for you tho.”
In many ways, Mikayla’s magical ride is the exception that proves the rule, as clearly, most people don’t have anywhere near as special a time of it on airlines. A study of North American airline satisfaction in 2023 found that overall passenger satisfaction had gone down seven points from 2022, with dissatisfaction over costs and fees rising a full 17 points, in particular. An analysis of airline customer satisfaction since 1995 reveals that Delta itself, after a sharp downswing in the mid-2010s, is actually relatively well-regarded as of now, even if it can’t compare to the popularity of certain competitors, like Alaska Airlines and Jet Blue.
Not all of us get to experience a flight straight out of a fairy tale, but clearly, it helps if you’re a bonafide Disney princess.