Summary
- American Airlines and Make-A-Wish gave 20 terminally ill children a surprise trip to Disney World.
- Children received boarding passes at a special event, bringing lots of cheers and tears.
- The airline is excited to host another Wish flight, showing continuous support for Make-A-Wish.
American Airlines and Make-A-Wish surprised over 20 critically ill children by handing them a six-day trip to Walt Disney World with their families. The “Wish Flight” will depart Dallas/Fort Worth on April 17 headed for Orlando.
American and Make-A-Wish Disney World surprise
The US carrier and children’s charity Make-A-Wish North Texas have revealed their latest collaboration to bring joy into the lives of children suffering from terminal conditions. As reported by CBS News, the Wish children and their families were summoned to American’s HQ at Crandall Campus in Fort Worth for “an event” – while the parents had been informed beforehand, the kids didn’t realize there was a surprise in store.
During the event, children were gifted envelopes containing boarding passes – when they realized they were headed for a six-day holiday at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, next month, cries and cheers erupted.
Kim Elenez, president & CEO of Make-A-Wish North Texas, said,
“For all of them, they’re struggling with medications and poking and prodding and all these doctor visits, so daily life can be quite difficult, particularly when you’re not sure what tomorrow has in store. Just as magical and incredible as the trip is, what happens after the trip oftentimes leads to incredible outcomes for our kids. Now they’ve said, ‘You know what? Anything is possible for me.”
The kids were then able to meet pilots and flight attendants to get their photos taken, while families also met with one another. Before the Wish flight next month, American Airlines plans to host a big party at the gate in DFW.
Wish flights
Wish children and their families will leave for Orlando on April 17th out of AA’s Dallas/Forth Worth hub. The flight itself will not be a regular passenger flight, with the aircraft reserved only for Wish families.
Kim Cisek, vice president of customer experience at American Airlines, said the airline’s flight crew gets excited about working on flights like this, adding,
“That’s what we’re asking the families to do: Go have fun. Enjoy this experience. Hopefully, they can see and feel the support and excitement from our team members as they travel to Orlando. We are so absolutely proud of being a longstanding partner of Make-A-Wish, so we get to do this again.”
Make-A-Wish North Texas says it will grant around 630 wishes to children this year, with almost 1,200 more on the waitlist. The charity has been working together with American Airlines for over three decades. Last year, 26 Wish children embarked on their “Best Flight Ever” from New York to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World – the inflight entertainment (IFE) was unique to say the least, featuring an appearance by actor Michael James Scott (starring as the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin musical) and all kinds of interactive games.
