American Airlines pilot leaves cockpit to assist with luggage loading

An American Airlines pilot is receiving accolades for stepping out of the cockpit to assist in loading luggage onto the plane.

An American Airlines pilot is getting praise after he stepped out of the cockpit and went down to the tarmac to help load luggage onto the plane.

Footage showed the gesture happening at Key West International Airport in Florida on January 5.

Passenger Robert Idell said he filmed the footage from his seat on American Airlines Flight 4051, reports Fox News.

An American Airlines pilot received praise for an unlikely deed. Picture: @robertidellxyz

Stepping out of the cockpit at Key West International Airport, the pilot assisted the crew in loading luggage onto the plane. Picture: @robertidellxyz

Key West International Airport before boarding American Airlines Flight 4051. Picture: @robertidellxyz

“This pilot needs a raise & recognition!“ Mr Idell posted on social media. ”He was helping load bags to help everyone with their connections.”

American Airlines also responded to Mr Idell’s Twitter/ X post, saying “We love to hear when our #AATeam is going above and beyond to assist our customers.

“We’ll make sure to recognize this fine performance.”

Even though the flight made it to Miami, it was delayed by about 30 minutes, according to flight data.

It’s not known if the airport was short-staffed, however a video posted inside the airport by Mr Idell before boarding was captioned: “Key West Airport was absolutely insane on 1/5/23. It had to be a safety hazard at some point. Anyone else experience this?”