Some South Jersey Schoolkids Get Extra Day In Florida After Flight Cancelled
MEDFORD, N.J. (CBS) - Sixty-seven South Jersey high school students and their chaperones are spending an extra day in Florida, courtesy of Southwest Airlines.
All 323 Shawnee High School seniors were scheduled to return from their class trip to Orlando in three planes last night. But one of their Southwest flights was cancelled, thanks to the midflight incident last Friday in which a hole was ripped in a 737's fuselage (see related story).
Shawnee principal Matthew Campbell (right) says the news that some kids would have to stay behind traveled like social networking wildfire.
"Most of the kids I had on my plane were more than willing to switch spots with their fellow classmates," he notes. "Southwest is paying for the lodging and the food. They were able to get back into the Disney resort today. Disney actually donated passes for them to go into Epcot."
But lest you think that the involuntarily tardy students have hit the class trip lottery...
"The next available flight was 7 o'clock tomorrow morning," says Principal Campbell -- after which they'll be taken straight to school. For the whole day.
Reported by Molly Daly, KYW Newsradio 1060.
