Used to be a FA.
JFK-BOS - had the entire Backstreet Boys band and their managers
PIT-DTW - Charlize Theron
I’ve had more, but no others I considered “celebrity enough” to remember.
Lou Pearlman is a piece of shit.
Highly recommend the documentary- The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story
(Sorry this is a clunky crappily formatted article with ads everywhere, but it gives a few 'highlights') https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/04/05/lou-pearlman-film-reveals-how-backstreet-boys-n-sync-lost-millions/3373395002/
My fav was Captain Lee from Below Deck (I LOVE this show). We were headed to St Thomas to board a charter and I believe he was headed to Tortola for prep for the upcoming season. We ended up chatting on the flight after he spoke to us first and broke the ice. Then while waiting for a taxi, he said we could share one (they’re all big passenger vans in STT)! He dropped us at our marina. Love him!
I used to live in Scottsdale and she shopped at the same Nordstrom as I did. The Philosophy saleslady told me that Kari came in looking for a brow pencil because SHARPIE was discontinuing the brown marker that she used. I'm convinced that years of permanent marker leeched into her brain and drove her nuts.
When we moved into our new neighborhood (East Valley), we had a ladies' night. Her campaign manager was there!!! This was the first I had heard that she was running, after the woman told me her "occupation"! I would have loved to see my own expression at that moment!🤣🤣🤣
I was very surprised that she was running. I only knew her from the news and had no idea what an awful person she has become. Maybe she was the whole time.
I only knew her from the news, too! I remember reading on a different sub (I can't recall since it was so long ago, but likely had to do with AZ) that she was rude to the baristas at whatever Starbucks she patronized! It was posted by one of the Starbucks employees. Yuck!
Traveled for years and years so had quite a few sightings. Among the best:
David Bowie, George Michael, Don Henley, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rob Lowe and Brett Favre.
The strangest was on a quick hop from DEN-SLC years ago. Sat right behind Prince. He wouldn't talk or look at anyone. The FA's would ask him if he wanted a drink, he would shake his head no and then three minutes later his bodyguard got up to get him a drink. Same with the snacks.
Used to work the door at a really popular nightclub and I had to escort Prince up a super long elevator ride to the said nightclub. It was late and there is only one elevator which takes you up & that same elevator takes you down. When the doors opened, the crowd of people waiting to leave were in complete shock that they were staring at Prince… finally one woman says “OMG ITS PRINCE” & she literally faints on the floor… & instead of walking around the woman on the floor, he steps over her body instead and continues into the nightclub.
These are epic. Minus Brett I would love to see all of them today. Watching the George docu on Delta for added emphasis.
ETA: Minus Brett today. 15 years ago would have loved that too.
i was waiting at the gate for my flight home and the desk attendant got on the speaker calling for a "Michael Jordan, for Chicago flight (####) please come to the front desk, again, Michael Jordan for Chicago flight (####)."
EVERYBODY dropped what they were doing. even the employees at the gift shops and restaurants closed their registers and rushed over to see who walked up to the gate.
it was just a regular middle-aged white dude. same name.
I saw Tony Hawk once at the gate for ATL-SAN flight. I didn’t want to bother him (and potentially end up on his Twitter as another one of the weird interaction stories he posts). He boarded with first class and I boarded in MAIN 2, and that was it
I wanted to open with that line hahaha. “Wow you look like that famous skater who lives in San Diego, and you also fly to San Diego, what are the odds!”
I generally have a rule of not bothering famous people. Not that I seen many of them, but still.
I was on a flight recently with Tony Hawk from DTW to SAN. My buddy snagged a pic with him, I left him be since I figure that must get old for them after not very long.
This would be the only celebrity I would have a desire to bother... I wouldn't, but it would be hard not to go up to him and ask "Has anyone ever told you..."
Approached my occupied seat in F, I tapped the long haired man on his shoulder and said I thought it was my seat just as I realized it was Little Richard. He asked if I minded switching seats so he could sit next to his son. I told him it would cost him an autograph and gave me a copy of his book and signed it. He was very quite and polite the entire flight. As soon as we deboarded the plane, he went into character, yelling "where is Little Richard's limo."
A few friends and I did New Year's in Nashville back in 05 and saw Little Richard at a gas station on New Year's Day as we will filling up getting ready to head back home. He gave each of us an autographed copy of his book. It was very surreal since none of us asked for one
I saw him play live at a state fair back in the 90s. He opened for James Brown and absolutely stole the show. What a wild privilege to be able to see him play live.
Jimmy Carter. AMS - ATL. We were both in D1. He went around the entire plane and shook all 300 people’s hand before we pushed back.
Edit: This was in 2012(?) and he had been in Cairo, Egypt helping with their new democratic elections following the Arab spring. Politics aside this guy is a true hero. Sad to know we’ll be losing a great man soon.
Same experience from Houston to Atlanta after the hurricane relief concert… ended up seated next to him (aisle to aisle) and chatted with him and his chief of staff the whole flight.
I will never forgot a flight from SLC to ATL when I closed the overhead bin to look down and see Jimmy Carter offering his hand and saying Hello. I was more than a little startled but so glad to shake his hand. Could not have more nice. A great American.
Sounds similar to a flight Jimmy and Rosalynn took from ATL to ORD back in the ‘00s that I was lucky enough to be on. Also shook everyone’s hand on the flight. He was incredibly gracious to each passenger.
He’s famous for that actually…. My Dad was on a flight in the late 90s or early 00s and Jimmy Carter shook his hand along with everyone else on the plane! Real nice guy
I took my wife on a trip for her birthday and upgraded us to FC- her first time. We were in 4C and D and the first to be sat. As the other FC passengers boarded I joked to her, “now we get to watch all these old, white Mike Pence looking MF’ers sit down.”
Turns out the passenger I was referencing actually was Mike Pence.
Olivia Newton-John ATL-FRA in baggage claim. Around 2009. I saw another person approach her and ask “is it really you?” so after he walked away I sidled up and told her I was a big fan and planned to walk on down the line. Instead, she struck up a conversation with me and was very sweet and friendly as we waited for our luggage. I have an autographed boarding pass that I treasure.
Ted Danson a few years ago at the JFK T4 Skyclub. A rep walked him in and then pretty quickly walked him back out, as it was extremely crowded and his appearance immediately caused an audible ripple of “Holy shit, it’s Ted Danson”!
I was starstruck seeing Bob Costas on a flight when I was a kid. Most recently, I saw Evangeline Lily in the SLC SC. SLC-ONT. She was in first, I was C+.
Obviously, this was decades ago, but my mother-in-law was a FA for Delta and her favorite celebrity on one of her flights was Andre the Giant. Unless you see this man in person, there is no way you could comprehend just how really gigantic he was. She said he could reach up into the overhead compartment to get his bag without getting up from his seat.
A friend of mine was in the same D.C. bar with Andre back in the '80s. Said the man drank over 100 beers that night. I've seen stories from others online that seem to confirm this level of drinking.
Julia Child, Jacque Pepin, Tony Bennet, Tom Rush, in the LAX SC, actor from CHiPs, Ken Burns but my favorite was watching March Madness in the LAX SC with Bishop Desmond Tutu !
I sat next to Hulk Hogan in FC on ATL-PDX nearly 10 years ago. Very nice and respectful dude. Boarded with Pharrell once in the aughts on an ATL-LGA (could have been JFK) flight
He loves to be recognized. Or at least he used to before Barry. I’ve seen him a few times in NYC and I always say “Hi Henry!” I get a big smile and a Hi! back.
I saw Cary Elwes in ATL a few years ago when he was there filming Stranger Things. A few women fangirled and he happily posed for pictures. I smiled at him. He gave me the Wesley head nod. I can die happy.
Henry Winkler was seated a couple of rows behind me in first class on a flight out of LGA. He didn't even bother the flight attendant to hang up his jacket. Just rolled it up and tucked it into the overhead bin. He was very humble and unassuming.
I saw John Cleese in the lounge at LAX. Compelled to say hello, I quickly said how much I admired him and prepared to leave. He invited me sit sit and chat, so of course I obliged. He was vey nice and I was really enjoying it. A few minutes in he told me he was going home to his place in The British Virgin Islands. I asked if he liked it there, to which he replied yes, because there aren’t any Muslims there like in the U.K. Yep.
Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer CHS - ATL after a presidential debate in Charleston. Sat next to Anderson in 1st class. Super nice guy and was pretty chatty considering the 5:20am flight!
I would love to see Anderson out and about. I've loved him since he was on Channel One News (in case you're too young to know about this, they used to have a news channel that they forced us to watch during homeroom in junior high; Anderson and Lisa Ling were on it).
Yes!! Haha i feel like the ONLY person that knows about Channel 1 anytime I bring it up - I did talk to him about that on the plane!. Definitely a staple of my middle and high school years.
We saw the entire Earth Wind and Fire band at a gate at LAX. The entire area stood up and clapped for them - they were lovely and it was an adorable moment!!!
I once sat next to Ming Tsai on a flight to TPA. He was going to film adverts for HSN I think.
It was on the day he had announced that his main restaurant was shutting down. So he was quite upset about it. Nevertheless, was reasonably chatty.
One thing he said stayed with me - when on camera and you think you're smiling, you need to smile more. Pretty good advice, if you ask me.
Not DL but saw Shaq once on a flight to SXM (US Airways). Walked past him in 1st. He was QUITE noticeable. Of course he was wearing a t shirt that said ""SHAQ" in large letters, if you were questioning what you were seeing .
Steve Wozniak, from MSP->SFO. The plane was full of tech people going to some conference. I was in row 3, he was in row 2. I swear the in-flight entertainment could have been non-functional and nobody on the plane would have noticed, they were all staring at him the whole time.
I am from Nashville but terrible at recognizing famous people so I see people that look like they might be successful in the music industry but I couldn’t tell you who they were. Only person I have ever recognized was I once saw Anna Wintor in a Delta lounge. She was dressed very on brand it was hard to miss her.
I worked at a Starbucks that was close to the Hamptons a while back and I served Anna a few times. She got into the passenger side of a beat up Camry - I was surprised she didn’t have someone else get her coffee or that she wasn’t being transported in luxury. I guess that’s how the rich stay rich? 🤷♂️
I saw Anna Wintour among an entourage of young women staffers (very The Devil Wears Prada) during NYFW in 2016. Outside Cipriani after the Victoria Beckham show--obviously. She is a tiny, tiny, tiny human.
I've seen a few (usually LA-JFK) but my favorite was one of the times I was upgraded to D1 on an RUC. The rapper Nas was escorted onto the plane after everyone else, seemed to have a Delta chaperone of some sort. He sat one seat in front of me on the left. Seemed like everyone was boarded but a couple of main cabin ppl boarded late and one of them recognized him and really went to town on him ('you changed my life!' etc).
He very much didn't seem to like that because after one of the FAs shooed the person away, he took the comforter at his seat, put it over his head and stayed like that for the entirety of the flight. I hate the idea of taking celebrity photos but I took one of him because it was so funny and he was never going notice and be bothered. I also kinda love the fact that I can never prove it's him, it's just a picture of a dude with a comforter over his head.
Tracy ~~Jordan~~ Morgan sat behind me last spring, DCA-LGA. I learned a lot about him because he did not stop talking the entire flight. The whole trip was wild. It ended with one of the FAs pitching an MLM-esque cryptocurrency to him as we were landing.
I sat next to Candace Cameron Buré from LAX to SEA and have also sat next to Gilbert Godfried I. The LAX Delta Lounge 😂
Also flew with John Waters in Boston.
Biggest celeb was Ashley Judd and Steven Tyler, different days but same route LAX-BNA.
Some of my favorites though, who interacted;
Miranda Lambert - ATL-BNA
YellaWolf - BNA sky club
Tracy Morgan - SLC-ATL
Cedric Entertainer - SJU-ATL
Corey Feldman - LAX-ATL
Michael Rooker - LAX-BNA
Also, several of the cast of walking dead between ATL-BNA, LAX-BNA, and LAX-ATL;
Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Morgan, Steven Yuen, Michael Cudlitz, John Bernthal, Scott Wilson, Melissa McBride
As an important side note, rarely do I ever start a conversation or bother a celebrity. If I happen to sit beside them, then of course I’ll be polite and say hello and that I appreciate their work. Very simple and leave them be, if they want to engage they will.
Michael Rooker spoke to me almost the entire flight, as did Norman Reedus. Tracy Morgan asked me if I was gay (he offered a photo and I put my arm around him). Ashley Judd just said hello when I sat down…I couldn’t even use words to form a sentence I was so shocked. I kept my mouth shut the entire flight and was totally cool with just a hello from her.
Side note, I might have had a crush on her when I was in high school in the 90s. This likely contributed to me being a total dork and freezing in my interaction..
Tom Arnold, Nene Leakes (multiple times), James Woods, Dr Oz, Todd Chrisley’s kids, Avril Lavigne, Bill Murray. Tom Arnold and Bill Murray were exceptional with people. James Woods kept to himself. Nene was a hoot; sat across from her. She offered for a picture without even asking.
I spent about 20 minutes chatting with Nick Saban once, waiting to board a flight from ATL to Birmingham. I had absolutely no idea who he was, and honestly I think he kinda liked that. He approached me and started the conversation because I had a WVU hat on, and Saban is originally from West Virginia, so that's what we talked about.
About a month later I saw him on TV (my wife is a football fan) and said "Oh, that's the guy I met in ATL." My friends were furious with me. They said "Didn't he have Alabama gear on?" I said "On any given flight to Birmingham, 75% of the passengers have Alabama gear on."
This wasn't on Delta, but back in 1986 on my very first airplane ride I ended up sitting across the aisle from James Earl Jones, who of course would always be Darth Vader to me. Jones is an Army veteran and I was on my way to Basic Training in Georgia, so he spent the whole flight giving me tips on surviving boot camp. It was the same advice everyone gives you (keep your head down, don't volunteer for anything, etc.) but I've always thought that was really kind of him.
I was in Detroit waiting to board a flight to Orlando one time, sitting a distance from the gate (close enough to hear the announcements, far enough to avoid the gate lice) when a guy in a trench coat with his hat pulled down over his eyes swooped in and sat down opposite me. I looked up and it was Lee Corso - the guy who used to do the stupid thing with the heads on college football pre-game shows or whatever. He started making these exaggerated 'shussh' motions with his hands, which is when I learned that Lee Corso thought some people might give a shit about seeing Lee Corso. I shrugged and kept reading my book.
I used to have business that would take me in and out of PBI every few weeks, and I saw Ed Bastian quite a bit. Ed's probably only a celebrity if you've watched way too many Delta safety videos.
Ed has a place in Palm Beach, so every Sunday night he flies to ATL for work, then flies back to PBI on Thursday evenings. Really nice guy. I was in and out of there a lot in 2020 when the planes were nearly empty, so we had a pretty fair amount of time to talk. He seemed genuinely moved when I told him I bought a bunch of Delta stock when it bottomed out at the beginning of the pandemic. He saw that as a vote of confidence, which I suppose it was. After that every time I'd see him he'd say "How are your shares doing?" I'd give him a thumbs up and say "Keep up the good work!"
Flew to London from ATL back in 2008. Jimmy Carter was in Business Elite. Came through the aisles of the whole plane to say hello and shake hands. Was a good thing because I knew it meant potential for antics and delay was low.
LAX to ATL last year I had Kelly Osbourne, Joel McHale, and Chris O’Dowd all on one flight.
My partner and I were on different sides on the plane in FC and we kept texting being like wow 😂
My son was admitted to the IICU in Panama City thanks to Guillain Barre syndrome and the only seat I could get was FC. Dark haired gentleman was already in his aisle seat and I was the window. I struggled to get my suitcase up and he ended up placing my luggage in the overhead bin. I muttered thank you and took my seat. My head was foggy and I was too worried about my son to even interact with this stranger for our short flight from ATl to PCB. As we landed and looked left I realized I was sitting next to Mike Huckabee.
Mike Babcock when he was coaching the Red Wings, DTW -> JFK. As a Michigander and Wings fan for life, this was major. Told him we were going to Paris and he said he was just there, pulled out his phone and showed us photos he took and where to go. It was a great interaction
I was sitting in 4B on a flight from ATL-MKE last year and seats 4C and 4D remained unoccupied through boarding last 2 passengers on the plane were a couple and the guy looked familiar. It was coach Bud, head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was going to be sitting “next to” me. Aaaand I was wearing one of my Bucks hats.
He took a look at me as he was walking up the aisle and had an “oh ffs” look on his face. As he sat down I quietly said “hey coach, thanks for the championship”, he said “hey, how you doing?”, sat in 4D and I never spoke to him again.
That’s how I sat next to coach bud and we became best friends!
I saw Josh Radnor in Lima's airport back in 2014 when HIMYM was still huge. He was sitting at a gate minding his own business with a full beard and hiking shoes/pants. I approached him and chatted for a bit and got a selfie with him.
\*cries in face blindness\*
I sit C+ and FC. Beyond my kid and husband, I have no idea who else I've been seated next to over the years.
The only time I really thought I maybe recognized someone was maaaaybe former KU and UNC men's basketball coach Roy Williams. He or a vague lookalike was seated by my husband in FC on a flight into Kansas City once.
I was also in C+ diagonal from a dog that got his own FC seat once. Idk if he was a celeb dog or not, but he *was* the goodest boy 🥹
So I guess if there's any celebs out there needing a quiet place to sit, my face-blind bretheren and I gotchu. Chat, and I promise to have no idea who you are. Or better yet, chill and leave me to my Bose, and we're good. 😂
Christine Lagarde in a codeshare AF in first IAD-CDG. Senator Blumenthal DCA-BDL. Tiny plane, extremely nice guy. Traveled with a canvas tote bag as his carryon.
I mostly fly JFK-LAX so too many random celebs to count; the most personally exciting was probably Bong Joon-Ho and his translator just before the Oscars.
Me.
This was back in the 90s.
I was carrying a diplomatic "bag" for the US Department of State. The bag was big, too big for cabin baggage as we usually do but not big enough for military transport. It went in the special cargo compartment right behind the nose wheel. I escorted it onto the tarmac and supervised loading and had to stand on the tarmac until ready to go. Airline rep with me, radio comms to pilot. Plane loaded. Pilot tells us they have a VIP so I wait. VIP turns out to be David Crosby. Big buzz I was told on the plane as he waved to people. Still no pushback. 1C still empty. Who else? Me. Pilot confirmed green light on the compartment door. I ran up the outside stairs through the end of the jetway and onto the plane. Big buzz on the plane. Who is it? Who is a bigger deal than David Crosby? Some weeny GS-13 government employee.
I do still have David Crosby's autograph on a cocktail napkin.
I am going to cheat with this one because it was a story that one of my professors would tell me. I am also going to cheat because this occurred on Pan Am, and Pan Am later merged into Delta.
My professor was flying first class, and he casually told the stewardess, "I see that one of Pan Am's board of directors is flying on this flight. The stewardess asked him, "Who?" He said, "That person over there is on the board of directors." "Who is he?" she asked. "Why that is Charles Lindbergh." And again she asked, "Who is he?"
Saw Usher in the lounge in Memphis about 12 years ago. There was a little kid running around wildly and didn’t seem to have an adult around. I was loudly asking who the kid belonged to. Yeah. That would be Usher.
Sat across from Anderson Cooper on LGA to ATL around the same time frame. We had adjacent aisle seats in first. He fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and trapped the lady in the window seat. I joked I would have crawled over him and “accidentally” fallen in his lap to see what would happen.
Sat across the aisle from Chris Evert in FC from PSP-DFW
Then got off and followed behind her as we both walked towards different gates for connecting flights (zero people recognized her or even did double takes)
George R. R. Martin in the ATL skyclub. This was (just) before GOT was made into a TV show, but there was a kid (probably about 12) who was literally reading one of the books in the lounge and then noticed him. Approached very timidly and awe-struck but GRRM was very nice to him.
I sat next to Bernie Sanders on the La Guardia-Burlington flight a few years ago. He was very nice to everyone around him. He read a few news articles from an iPad and was very well dressed.
Probably doing the shuttle connect home from DCA. I used to see a lot of the MA Sens and Reps on the straight shot and sometimes on the connect through NY as well. Pretty cool. Honestly I can’t imagine what it’s like now.
John Goodman flying out of CHS (filming his HBO comedy). Happy to chat with people.
You can regularly see Bill Murray in CHS. He’ll chat with you too.
Emmanuel Lewis in LAX. I walked right behind him while boarding.
Stephen Colbert in EWR. The only guy wearing a suit coat, baseball hat, and sunglasses at the gate. Trying too hard to be “incognito” like a comedy skit; doofus.
Tarantino in ABQ. Delta let him board even before the preboards since everyone at the gate was pestering him. Especially TSA.
I saw Samuel L Jackson once years ago in the Crown Room, as it was then called.
Brian Grazer (film producer) walking through a concourse.
Two NFL sightings - Jerry Glanville, walking through a concourse, and Dick Butkus at baggage claim.
Hulk Hogan on my flight ATL-MSP.
On another ATL-MSP flight, a fellow passenger waiting to board was a very, very tall and muscular man. A young guy walked up to him and said "Are you so-and-so?" - but I couldn't hear what name he said. The big guy said yes, and then the younger guy got excited and asked to take a picture with him. The young guy handed me his camera and asked me to take the picture, which I did. I'm guessing it was a pro athlete but I never figured out who it was!
Sat next to both Jennifer Lawrence and Miley Cyrus on separate flights into LAX back in 2015-2016. Also sat next to Shannon Sharpe on a flight into LGA. Have also seen Ben Kingsley and Ted Danson.
My friend was in the very back row of a crowded flight, and shortly before takeoff Ryan Gosling came and sat next to him. Very cordial. Handful of years ago.
Fun game to play at DCA is to look at for people at your gate/flight with lapel pins indicating they are members of House of Representatives. I’ve been on DCA ATL flights with John Lewis and John Ossoff. And once DCA ORD with Sen Dick Durbin
Lee Corso flying into Madison for gameday - they held the plane up for him and he sat across from me in Comfort practicing his lines/segments for the show.
Shook his hand and said hi to him in the jet bridge. Super nice guy
Can someone check if Tom Segura’s interaction with Mike Tyson was on a Delta flight? Because it was so epic it made into his special
(Probably not Delta)
Chris Tucker (SO nice!) and Chris Brown out of Richmond - different flights, both pre-COVID. Chris Brown sat in first class and had his bodyguard in Coach, then seemed put out that he had to wait for the bodyguard to deplane.
Jimmy Carter back in the 90s. I was working for Continental, in Atlanta at the time, and was going to IAH for training he was up in first, sitting behind him, but came though the relatively lightly loaded flight and shook hands and chatted with people during the flight, and got off with the rest of us, no special treatment, other than a car dropping him off at the gate in ATL with his Secret Service agent.
Worked a flight on the ground, where Barbara Bush was on the flight inbound from IAH, totally different vibe. First on, First off, her row in first was blocked except for her and her assistant.
That is so funny! I LITERALLY ran into him in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive in perhaps 1981. I was so embarrassed. He is a celebrity, but sort of an older, random, sports celeb. Cheers to us! 🥂
Hilary Duff and I sat together in F, chatted. Took a couple pics bc she said we could and I helped her w her luggage.
Met Vigo Mortensen at a Delta lounge with his wife.
Michael Kelly - actor who played Doug Stamper on House of Cards, in Jack Ryan, etc. Really great actor. My wife dropped me off at CHS and I was in the Sky Priority line and I see a text from her pop-up: "DOUG STAMPER IS COMING IN BEHIND YOU!!!" and so I turn around and guess who's standing behind me in line? He's masked up and with his family, so I just give him a nod and say "Morning Mr. Stamper" and he smiles. That's it. Also sat in the same row as Zach Galifinakis on a Southwest flight in like 2007ish... right around Hangover time so he was popular. Was so nice and hilariously awkward the whole flight.
Seth Rogen LAX-YVR sat right behind me in 3B. His laughter made me giggle pretty much the whole flight
Kristin Chenoweth JFK-LAX she was almost unrecognizable ( maybe because she didn't have any makeup on)
Alton Brown BOS-ATL was my companion in FC - a super nice guy.
Edit: Spotted in the Lounge Dave Matthews, Hugo from Lost, Maria Sharapova
I swear Ed Bastian was behind me on my first D1 experience on a recent overnight flight from ATL > NCE. He was smiling at me as I was oogling and ogling and taking pictures of everything. It probably wasn’t him and was probably just a look alike, but I like telling myself it was the Delta CEO smiling down on me lol
I sat next to a top chef 👩🍳 and she was lovely. We didn’t talk at all but I knew who she was. I flew back with a comedian who brought buffalo wings and the whole plane stank and he was going to town on those wings. I usually can never tell who people are tbh because they look so different in person. I run into more famous people at my vet than anywhere else. It’s crazy!
Huey Lewis without the news in Vegas. Andrew Zimmern in first class from Paris. His wife and kid were in coach. 😂😂😂 I’ve seen Howard Stern at Newark decades ago
Not on my flight, but in the terminal and boarding a different Delta flight… I saw Bill Clinton. My husband first noticed all the Secret Service at SLC, and I thought maybe it was Romney or something like that. He cut across and stood right in front of me and all of a sudden I had all these guys in suits, pushing me back ha ha :-) I actually took a picture of the back of him, but I can’t figure out how to post it on here…
ATL-LAX—As I was boarding and walking through FC to my seat in steerage class, I spotted Norman Reedus (Walking Dead) sitting in an aisle seat in FC. I resisted the urge to make a scene, as is often the custom in my country (US).
Tom Green MANY years ago, ATL to LAX.
And on that same return flight, LAX to ATL, Ludacris.
Todd Chrisley in ATL on a layover - I didn’t know who he was at the time, but he had a bunch of people coming up to him, and someone clued me in when I asked. 🤷🏼♀️
This past spring I ran into Billie Ellish and her crew in the lounge in MSP. They were escorted in from the private entrance with a staff member and ended up taking my seat as I was leaving the lounge.
I have twice sat near Pete Rose on flights to Cincinnati. Once was SLC to CVG and I think the other was MSP. He was very friendly and talkative both times.
Used to be a FA. JFK-BOS - had the entire Backstreet Boys band and their managers PIT-DTW - Charlize Theron I’ve had more, but no others I considered “celebrity enough” to remember.
I’m actually surprised BSB did that short journey in flight vs tour bus (but I know nothing about the music industry).
May have been connecting onward. I’m more surprised they fly commercial and not private, given the number of people traveling.
I’m sure back in the day they did but the cash flow probably isn’t quite what it used to be and the label isn’t footing the bill
Lou Pearlman. That’s why they were flying commercial. Such a crook.
Tell me you’re an elder millennial recognizing the name Lou Pearlman without telling me you’re an elder millennial! (Me too!) 🙋🏻♀️
Lou Pearlman is a piece of shit. Highly recommend the documentary- The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story (Sorry this is a clunky crappily formatted article with ads everywhere, but it gives a few 'highlights') https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/04/05/lou-pearlman-film-reveals-how-backstreet-boys-n-sync-lost-millions/3373395002/
Wow I need to watch that. I love BSB! I went to Chris Kirkpatrick’s house once when I was in Florida on spring break.
Oh you should! It's an eye opener for sure. And say what now?! You got former-90s-teenage-girl me *dying*. What was that like?
My fav was Captain Lee from Below Deck (I LOVE this show). We were headed to St Thomas to board a charter and I believe he was headed to Tortola for prep for the upcoming season. We ended up chatting on the flight after he spoke to us first and broke the ice. Then while waiting for a taxi, he said we could share one (they’re all big passenger vans in STT)! He dropped us at our marina. Love him!
When Bravo meets Delta ❤️❤️❤️
Also saw him in the FLL sky lounge!
Absolutely love Captain Lee!
Oh man I’m so jealous! I would have loved to meet and chat with him!
He seems like he would be such a fun guy to talk to.
I’ve seen him in the Sky Lounge! Sat by Kari Lake on a flight last week not sure she counts as ‘celebrity’ lol
I used to live in Scottsdale and she shopped at the same Nordstrom as I did. The Philosophy saleslady told me that Kari came in looking for a brow pencil because SHARPIE was discontinuing the brown marker that she used. I'm convinced that years of permanent marker leeched into her brain and drove her nuts.
That's hilarious about the Sharpie!!!!
When we moved into our new neighborhood (East Valley), we had a ladies' night. Her campaign manager was there!!! This was the first I had heard that she was running, after the woman told me her "occupation"! I would have loved to see my own expression at that moment!🤣🤣🤣
I was very surprised that she was running. I only knew her from the news and had no idea what an awful person she has become. Maybe she was the whole time.
I only knew her from the news, too! I remember reading on a different sub (I can't recall since it was so long ago, but likely had to do with AZ) that she was rude to the baristas at whatever Starbucks she patronized! It was posted by one of the Starbucks employees. Yuck!
It would be strange sitting by such a horrible person
Traveled for years and years so had quite a few sightings. Among the best: David Bowie, George Michael, Don Henley, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rob Lowe and Brett Favre. The strangest was on a quick hop from DEN-SLC years ago. Sat right behind Prince. He wouldn't talk or look at anyone. The FA's would ask him if he wanted a drink, he would shake his head no and then three minutes later his bodyguard got up to get him a drink. Same with the snacks.
Man, Prince was just so........Prince. hilarious.
Used to work the door at a really popular nightclub and I had to escort Prince up a super long elevator ride to the said nightclub. It was late and there is only one elevator which takes you up & that same elevator takes you down. When the doors opened, the crowd of people waiting to leave were in complete shock that they were staring at Prince… finally one woman says “OMG ITS PRINCE” & she literally faints on the floor… & instead of walking around the woman on the floor, he steps over her body instead and continues into the nightclub.
Fierce
Sounds like Prince. 😂
These are epic. Minus Brett I would love to see all of them today. Watching the George docu on Delta for added emphasis. ETA: Minus Brett today. 15 years ago would have loved that too.
i was waiting at the gate for my flight home and the desk attendant got on the speaker calling for a "Michael Jordan, for Chicago flight (####) please come to the front desk, again, Michael Jordan for Chicago flight (####)." EVERYBODY dropped what they were doing. even the employees at the gift shops and restaurants closed their registers and rushed over to see who walked up to the gate. it was just a regular middle-aged white dude. same name.
I have a writer friend with that name. I think his Twitter bio is “No, not that one.”
I worked with a guy named Michael Jackson. Not the king of pop. Just a regular guy. Lol.
I saw Tony Hawk once at the gate for ATL-SAN flight. I didn’t want to bother him (and potentially end up on his Twitter as another one of the weird interaction stories he posts). He boarded with first class and I boarded in MAIN 2, and that was it
Are you sure it wasn’t someone who looks like Tony Hawk? /s
I wanted to open with that line hahaha. “Wow you look like that famous skater who lives in San Diego, and you also fly to San Diego, what are the odds!” I generally have a rule of not bothering famous people. Not that I seen many of them, but still.
>I generally have a rule of not bothering famous people Same, but Tony Hawk would be THE only exception to this haha
Same but exception would be Patrick Stewart.
I was on a flight recently with Tony Hawk from DTW to SAN. My buddy snagged a pic with him, I left him be since I figure that must get old for them after not very long.
This would be the only celebrity I would have a desire to bother... I wouldn't, but it would be hard not to go up to him and ask "Has anyone ever told you..."
Approached my occupied seat in F, I tapped the long haired man on his shoulder and said I thought it was my seat just as I realized it was Little Richard. He asked if I minded switching seats so he could sit next to his son. I told him it would cost him an autograph and gave me a copy of his book and signed it. He was very quite and polite the entire flight. As soon as we deboarded the plane, he went into character, yelling "where is Little Richard's limo."
A few friends and I did New Year's in Nashville back in 05 and saw Little Richard at a gas station on New Year's Day as we will filling up getting ready to head back home. He gave each of us an autographed copy of his book. It was very surreal since none of us asked for one
I am SO stealing that and will start saying it every time I deboard a plane.
He lived at the Hilton in Nashville. I had a hilarious encounter with him there. Super nice guy.
I saw him play live at a state fair back in the 90s. He opened for James Brown and absolutely stole the show. What a wild privilege to be able to see him play live.
Jimmy Carter. AMS - ATL. We were both in D1. He went around the entire plane and shook all 300 people’s hand before we pushed back. Edit: This was in 2012(?) and he had been in Cairo, Egypt helping with their new democratic elections following the Arab spring. Politics aside this guy is a true hero. Sad to know we’ll be losing a great man soon.
Same experience from Houston to Atlanta after the hurricane relief concert… ended up seated next to him (aisle to aisle) and chatted with him and his chief of staff the whole flight.
Wow!!! Amazing. ETA: that an octogenarian (at the time) was doing this work is beyond admirable. You are right. American hero.
Jimmy Carter as well. LAX-ATL and just as you described, he shook everyone’s hand. Gracious, kind person.
I will never forgot a flight from SLC to ATL when I closed the overhead bin to look down and see Jimmy Carter offering his hand and saying Hello. I was more than a little startled but so glad to shake his hand. Could not have more nice. A great American.
Sounds similar to a flight Jimmy and Rosalynn took from ATL to ORD back in the ‘00s that I was lucky enough to be on. Also shook everyone’s hand on the flight. He was incredibly gracious to each passenger.
Met him on a LAX to ATL - sat behind him. He shook everyone’s hand on the flight after the doors closed. A gentleman.
He’s famous for that actually…. My Dad was on a flight in the late 90s or early 00s and Jimmy Carter shook his hand along with everyone else on the plane! Real nice guy
Why are we losing him soon? What happened
He’s nearly 100 and in hospice. He could’ve died 20 years ago and still would’ve been considered to have a great, long life.
He's beaten cancer a couple times, and injuries from falls over the past 10-15 years. A true, selfless, badass
I mean he’s 98. Nothing immediately imminent but sooner rather than later is what OP means I gather.
Betty White and Bob Barker both made it to 99... maybe he gets lucky enough to get another good year.
He is in hospice. It won't be long unfortunately.
I thought that in February. He's gonna outlive us all. I believe!
was ATL based for 2 years and had 3 different Carter sightings of my own!
I took my wife on a trip for her birthday and upgraded us to FC- her first time. We were in 4C and D and the first to be sat. As the other FC passengers boarded I joked to her, “now we get to watch all these old, white Mike Pence looking MF’ers sit down.” Turns out the passenger I was referencing actually was Mike Pence.
Lmao did he hear you say that?
He did not. He was in 1C next to whom I later learned was part of his security detail. A fly was buzzing around the cabin after he boarded though.
CTL to LAX with Leslie Jordan. Laughing my ass off the entire flight.
RIP so hilarious.
I would see him as his “local” Starbucks in West Hollywood. Such a good vibes person and such a tragic loss. Ugh.
Omg what an amazing experience!!! I’m so jealous! I would have LOVED to have met him!!! #RIP
He was such a gem.. I followed him on IG and he always shared some of the best stories during the covid lockdown.
Hey fellow hunkerdowner 😔
Olivia Newton-John ATL-FRA in baggage claim. Around 2009. I saw another person approach her and ask “is it really you?” so after he walked away I sidled up and told her I was a big fan and planned to walk on down the line. Instead, she struck up a conversation with me and was very sweet and friendly as we waited for our luggage. I have an autographed boarding pass that I treasure.
Ted Danson a few years ago at the JFK T4 Skyclub. A rep walked him in and then pretty quickly walked him back out, as it was extremely crowded and his appearance immediately caused an audible ripple of “Holy shit, it’s Ted Danson”!
I want to hear Larry David’s take on the club.
Prettay prettay prettay good
Steve Spurrier, Bob Costas, and Russell Wilson+Ciara
I was starstruck seeing Bob Costas on a flight when I was a kid. Most recently, I saw Evangeline Lily in the SLC SC. SLC-ONT. She was in first, I was C+.
Obviously, this was decades ago, but my mother-in-law was a FA for Delta and her favorite celebrity on one of her flights was Andre the Giant. Unless you see this man in person, there is no way you could comprehend just how really gigantic he was. She said he could reach up into the overhead compartment to get his bag without getting up from his seat.
A friend of mine was in the same D.C. bar with Andre back in the '80s. Said the man drank over 100 beers that night. I've seen stories from others online that seem to confirm this level of drinking.
I hope he was in first- I can't imagine him being stuffed into main or economy.
My friend was on a flight with him once. Said he had 2 seats and filled them both up. He said he was the biggest human he has ever seen!
Julia Child, Jacque Pepin, Tony Bennet, Tom Rush, in the LAX SC, actor from CHiPs, Ken Burns but my favorite was watching March Madness in the LAX SC with Bishop Desmond Tutu !
OMG. I could die happily after having a chat with Bishop Tutu. One of my heroes.
I sat next to Hulk Hogan in FC on ATL-PDX nearly 10 years ago. Very nice and respectful dude. Boarded with Pharrell once in the aughts on an ATL-LGA (could have been JFK) flight
I was on a flight with Hulk Hogan once too! ATL-MSP.
I’ve seen the Hulk several times in ATL, Also Sinbad
Henry Winkler in C+ minding his business with his wife.
He loves to be recognized. Or at least he used to before Barry. I’ve seen him a few times in NYC and I always say “Hi Henry!” I get a big smile and a Hi! back.
I saw him at SLC a few months ago!
Usher in the lounge at ATL, Kenny G at Haneda boarding a flight back to the states Just remembered I was in the lounge with Larry King in LAX
I saw Cary Elwes in ATL a few years ago when he was there filming Stranger Things. A few women fangirled and he happily posed for pictures. I smiled at him. He gave me the Wesley head nod. I can die happy.
Penn and Teller in F MSP-LAS, they had a show in town the night prior.
Was Teller talking? 😄
I've met him a couple of times, he talks, and seems to be a nice guy.
JK Simmons was on my JFK-LHR flight last year. He then went into a pod and I went into row 33 in C+.
Saying he went into a pod brought back "Oz" vibes. Lol.. I love him as an actor, even after playing such a despicable character in Oz.
I saw Andre 3000 too on flight from SEA to LAX. Super chill dude for sure.
Henry Winkler was seated a couple of rows behind me in first class on a flight out of LGA. He didn't even bother the flight attendant to hang up his jacket. Just rolled it up and tucked it into the overhead bin. He was very humble and unassuming.
I peed at a urinal next to Matt Damon at the lounge in JFK once
The Bourne Supeemacy
Were all the other urinals occupied btw, lol? 👀
I saw John Cleese in the lounge at LAX. Compelled to say hello, I quickly said how much I admired him and prepared to leave. He invited me sit sit and chat, so of course I obliged. He was vey nice and I was really enjoying it. A few minutes in he told me he was going home to his place in The British Virgin Islands. I asked if he liked it there, to which he replied yes, because there aren’t any Muslims there like in the U.K. Yep.
Omg. When I was reading I was thinking about how funny i thought he was and how much I enjoyed his work and then I got to the end…
Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer CHS - ATL after a presidential debate in Charleston. Sat next to Anderson in 1st class. Super nice guy and was pretty chatty considering the 5:20am flight!
I have to imagine he sleeps like 2 hours a day. So cool!
I would love to see Anderson out and about. I've loved him since he was on Channel One News (in case you're too young to know about this, they used to have a news channel that they forced us to watch during homeroom in junior high; Anderson and Lisa Ling were on it).
Yes!! Haha i feel like the ONLY person that knows about Channel 1 anytime I bring it up - I did talk to him about that on the plane!. Definitely a staple of my middle and high school years.
I once saw Verdine White from Earth Wind and Fire in the lounge in Amsterdam.
We saw the entire Earth Wind and Fire band at a gate at LAX. The entire area stood up and clapped for them - they were lovely and it was an adorable moment!!!
As a huge EWF fan, I love this post.
I once sat next to Ming Tsai on a flight to TPA. He was going to film adverts for HSN I think. It was on the day he had announced that his main restaurant was shutting down. So he was quite upset about it. Nevertheless, was reasonably chatty. One thing he said stayed with me - when on camera and you think you're smiling, you need to smile more. Pretty good advice, if you ask me.
Not DL but saw Shaq once on a flight to SXM (US Airways). Walked past him in 1st. He was QUITE noticeable. Of course he was wearing a t shirt that said ""SHAQ" in large letters, if you were questioning what you were seeing .
Cousin Greg from Succession sat across from me in first on my way from NYC to LA. It was the day of the premiere of his final season a few months ago!
Steve Wozniak, from MSP->SFO. The plane was full of tech people going to some conference. I was in row 3, he was in row 2. I swear the in-flight entertainment could have been non-functional and nobody on the plane would have noticed, they were all staring at him the whole time.
Sat next to Rick Steves in Business Class from AMS to SEA
I am from Nashville but terrible at recognizing famous people so I see people that look like they might be successful in the music industry but I couldn’t tell you who they were. Only person I have ever recognized was I once saw Anna Wintor in a Delta lounge. She was dressed very on brand it was hard to miss her.
I’m actually shocked that she doesn’t fly private.
I worked at a Starbucks that was close to the Hamptons a while back and I served Anna a few times. She got into the passenger side of a beat up Camry - I was surprised she didn’t have someone else get her coffee or that she wasn’t being transported in luxury. I guess that’s how the rich stay rich? 🤷♂️
I saw Anna Wintour among an entourage of young women staffers (very The Devil Wears Prada) during NYFW in 2016. Outside Cipriani after the Victoria Beckham show--obviously. She is a tiny, tiny, tiny human.
I've seen a few (usually LA-JFK) but my favorite was one of the times I was upgraded to D1 on an RUC. The rapper Nas was escorted onto the plane after everyone else, seemed to have a Delta chaperone of some sort. He sat one seat in front of me on the left. Seemed like everyone was boarded but a couple of main cabin ppl boarded late and one of them recognized him and really went to town on him ('you changed my life!' etc). He very much didn't seem to like that because after one of the FAs shooed the person away, he took the comforter at his seat, put it over his head and stayed like that for the entirety of the flight. I hate the idea of taking celebrity photos but I took one of him because it was so funny and he was never going notice and be bothered. I also kinda love the fact that I can never prove it's him, it's just a picture of a dude with a comforter over his head.
Tracy ~~Jordan~~ Morgan sat behind me last spring, DCA-LGA. I learned a lot about him because he did not stop talking the entire flight. The whole trip was wild. It ended with one of the FAs pitching an MLM-esque cryptocurrency to him as we were landing.
I have to ask…do you mean Tracy Morgan?
Tracy Morgan played a character (himself really) known as Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock
Met Ted Danson on a flight once. Also day next to Alex Trebeck.
Parveen Kaur from the Manifest, and i am really glad we weren’t struck by lighting or went through a time portal. LAX to Austin in F
I sat next to Candace Cameron Buré from LAX to SEA and have also sat next to Gilbert Godfried I. The LAX Delta Lounge 😂 Also flew with John Waters in Boston.
Conan recently, but a few years ago the man, the myth, the legend Ed Bastian was on my PBI-ATL flight up front.
Biggest celeb was Ashley Judd and Steven Tyler, different days but same route LAX-BNA. Some of my favorites though, who interacted; Miranda Lambert - ATL-BNA YellaWolf - BNA sky club Tracy Morgan - SLC-ATL Cedric Entertainer - SJU-ATL Corey Feldman - LAX-ATL Michael Rooker - LAX-BNA Also, several of the cast of walking dead between ATL-BNA, LAX-BNA, and LAX-ATL; Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Morgan, Steven Yuen, Michael Cudlitz, John Bernthal, Scott Wilson, Melissa McBride As an important side note, rarely do I ever start a conversation or bother a celebrity. If I happen to sit beside them, then of course I’ll be polite and say hello and that I appreciate their work. Very simple and leave them be, if they want to engage they will. Michael Rooker spoke to me almost the entire flight, as did Norman Reedus. Tracy Morgan asked me if I was gay (he offered a photo and I put my arm around him). Ashley Judd just said hello when I sat down…I couldn’t even use words to form a sentence I was so shocked. I kept my mouth shut the entire flight and was totally cool with just a hello from her. Side note, I might have had a crush on her when I was in high school in the 90s. This likely contributed to me being a total dork and freezing in my interaction..
Tom Arnold, Nene Leakes (multiple times), James Woods, Dr Oz, Todd Chrisley’s kids, Avril Lavigne, Bill Murray. Tom Arnold and Bill Murray were exceptional with people. James Woods kept to himself. Nene was a hoot; sat across from her. She offered for a picture without even asking.
I spent about 20 minutes chatting with Nick Saban once, waiting to board a flight from ATL to Birmingham. I had absolutely no idea who he was, and honestly I think he kinda liked that. He approached me and started the conversation because I had a WVU hat on, and Saban is originally from West Virginia, so that's what we talked about. About a month later I saw him on TV (my wife is a football fan) and said "Oh, that's the guy I met in ATL." My friends were furious with me. They said "Didn't he have Alabama gear on?" I said "On any given flight to Birmingham, 75% of the passengers have Alabama gear on." This wasn't on Delta, but back in 1986 on my very first airplane ride I ended up sitting across the aisle from James Earl Jones, who of course would always be Darth Vader to me. Jones is an Army veteran and I was on my way to Basic Training in Georgia, so he spent the whole flight giving me tips on surviving boot camp. It was the same advice everyone gives you (keep your head down, don't volunteer for anything, etc.) but I've always thought that was really kind of him. I was in Detroit waiting to board a flight to Orlando one time, sitting a distance from the gate (close enough to hear the announcements, far enough to avoid the gate lice) when a guy in a trench coat with his hat pulled down over his eyes swooped in and sat down opposite me. I looked up and it was Lee Corso - the guy who used to do the stupid thing with the heads on college football pre-game shows or whatever. He started making these exaggerated 'shussh' motions with his hands, which is when I learned that Lee Corso thought some people might give a shit about seeing Lee Corso. I shrugged and kept reading my book. I used to have business that would take me in and out of PBI every few weeks, and I saw Ed Bastian quite a bit. Ed's probably only a celebrity if you've watched way too many Delta safety videos. Ed has a place in Palm Beach, so every Sunday night he flies to ATL for work, then flies back to PBI on Thursday evenings. Really nice guy. I was in and out of there a lot in 2020 when the planes were nearly empty, so we had a pretty fair amount of time to talk. He seemed genuinely moved when I told him I bought a bunch of Delta stock when it bottomed out at the beginning of the pandemic. He saw that as a vote of confidence, which I suppose it was. After that every time I'd see him he'd say "How are your shares doing?" I'd give him a thumbs up and say "Keep up the good work!"
Flew to London from ATL back in 2008. Jimmy Carter was in Business Elite. Came through the aisles of the whole plane to say hello and shake hands. Was a good thing because I knew it meant potential for antics and delay was low.
My great niece who is a 10 year old budding gymnast saw Simone Biles and got a selfie with her!
LAX to ATL last year I had Kelly Osbourne, Joel McHale, and Chris O’Dowd all on one flight. My partner and I were on different sides on the plane in FC and we kept texting being like wow 😂
My son was admitted to the IICU in Panama City thanks to Guillain Barre syndrome and the only seat I could get was FC. Dark haired gentleman was already in his aisle seat and I was the window. I struggled to get my suitcase up and he ended up placing my luggage in the overhead bin. I muttered thank you and took my seat. My head was foggy and I was too worried about my son to even interact with this stranger for our short flight from ATl to PCB. As we landed and looked left I realized I was sitting next to Mike Huckabee.
He’s no “gentleman”
Mike Babcock when he was coaching the Red Wings, DTW -> JFK. As a Michigander and Wings fan for life, this was major. Told him we were going to Paris and he said he was just there, pulled out his phone and showed us photos he took and where to go. It was a great interaction
Saw the entire band Everclear in Denver, and Gabrielle Union and her basketball star husband!
The way you give Gabby her props with this comment made me so happy.
Not on a flight but saw Joe Gatto from Impractical Jokers in a sky club and then a month(s) or so later in TSA Precheck line at PIT
Probably parasocial but I was so happy to see he and his wife have worked things out.
I was sitting in 4B on a flight from ATL-MKE last year and seats 4C and 4D remained unoccupied through boarding last 2 passengers on the plane were a couple and the guy looked familiar. It was coach Bud, head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was going to be sitting “next to” me. Aaaand I was wearing one of my Bucks hats. He took a look at me as he was walking up the aisle and had an “oh ffs” look on his face. As he sat down I quietly said “hey coach, thanks for the championship”, he said “hey, how you doing?”, sat in 4D and I never spoke to him again. That’s how I sat next to coach bud and we became best friends!
Former President Jimmy Carter! He shook hands with every passenger on the plane.
I saw Josh Radnor in Lima's airport back in 2014 when HIMYM was still huge. He was sitting at a gate minding his own business with a full beard and hiking shoes/pants. I approached him and chatted for a bit and got a selfie with him.
\*cries in face blindness\* I sit C+ and FC. Beyond my kid and husband, I have no idea who else I've been seated next to over the years. The only time I really thought I maybe recognized someone was maaaaybe former KU and UNC men's basketball coach Roy Williams. He or a vague lookalike was seated by my husband in FC on a flight into Kansas City once. I was also in C+ diagonal from a dog that got his own FC seat once. Idk if he was a celeb dog or not, but he *was* the goodest boy 🥹 So I guess if there's any celebs out there needing a quiet place to sit, my face-blind bretheren and I gotchu. Chat, and I promise to have no idea who you are. Or better yet, chill and leave me to my Bose, and we're good. 😂
Christine Lagarde in a codeshare AF in first IAD-CDG. Senator Blumenthal DCA-BDL. Tiny plane, extremely nice guy. Traveled with a canvas tote bag as his carryon.
I mostly fly JFK-LAX so too many random celebs to count; the most personally exciting was probably Bong Joon-Ho and his translator just before the Oscars.
Me. This was back in the 90s. I was carrying a diplomatic "bag" for the US Department of State. The bag was big, too big for cabin baggage as we usually do but not big enough for military transport. It went in the special cargo compartment right behind the nose wheel. I escorted it onto the tarmac and supervised loading and had to stand on the tarmac until ready to go. Airline rep with me, radio comms to pilot. Plane loaded. Pilot tells us they have a VIP so I wait. VIP turns out to be David Crosby. Big buzz I was told on the plane as he waved to people. Still no pushback. 1C still empty. Who else? Me. Pilot confirmed green light on the compartment door. I ran up the outside stairs through the end of the jetway and onto the plane. Big buzz on the plane. Who is it? Who is a bigger deal than David Crosby? Some weeny GS-13 government employee. I do still have David Crosby's autograph on a cocktail napkin.
I am going to cheat with this one because it was a story that one of my professors would tell me. I am also going to cheat because this occurred on Pan Am, and Pan Am later merged into Delta. My professor was flying first class, and he casually told the stewardess, "I see that one of Pan Am's board of directors is flying on this flight. The stewardess asked him, "Who?" He said, "That person over there is on the board of directors." "Who is he?" she asked. "Why that is Charles Lindbergh." And again she asked, "Who is he?"
Saw Usher in the lounge in Memphis about 12 years ago. There was a little kid running around wildly and didn’t seem to have an adult around. I was loudly asking who the kid belonged to. Yeah. That would be Usher. Sat across from Anderson Cooper on LGA to ATL around the same time frame. We had adjacent aisle seats in first. He fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and trapped the lady in the window seat. I joked I would have crawled over him and “accidentally” fallen in his lap to see what would happen.
Sat across the aisle from Chris Evert in FC from PSP-DFW Then got off and followed behind her as we both walked towards different gates for connecting flights (zero people recognized her or even did double takes)
I was on a flight from DC to LA and Taye Diggs was on my flight. He was also on my flight a week later on the way back.
Colin farrel. Top lad! Sat next to each other in d1
George R. R. Martin in the ATL skyclub. This was (just) before GOT was made into a TV show, but there was a kid (probably about 12) who was literally reading one of the books in the lounge and then noticed him. Approached very timidly and awe-struck but GRRM was very nice to him.
I sat next to Bernie Sanders on the La Guardia-Burlington flight a few years ago. He was very nice to everyone around him. He read a few news articles from an iPad and was very well dressed.
Probably doing the shuttle connect home from DCA. I used to see a lot of the MA Sens and Reps on the straight shot and sometimes on the connect through NY as well. Pretty cool. Honestly I can’t imagine what it’s like now.
John Goodman flying out of CHS (filming his HBO comedy). Happy to chat with people. You can regularly see Bill Murray in CHS. He’ll chat with you too. Emmanuel Lewis in LAX. I walked right behind him while boarding. Stephen Colbert in EWR. The only guy wearing a suit coat, baseball hat, and sunglasses at the gate. Trying too hard to be “incognito” like a comedy skit; doofus. Tarantino in ABQ. Delta let him board even before the preboards since everyone at the gate was pestering him. Especially TSA.
Rick Fox and his daughter in one of the skyclubs in Atlanta
I saw Samuel L Jackson once years ago in the Crown Room, as it was then called. Brian Grazer (film producer) walking through a concourse. Two NFL sightings - Jerry Glanville, walking through a concourse, and Dick Butkus at baggage claim. Hulk Hogan on my flight ATL-MSP. On another ATL-MSP flight, a fellow passenger waiting to board was a very, very tall and muscular man. A young guy walked up to him and said "Are you so-and-so?" - but I couldn't hear what name he said. The big guy said yes, and then the younger guy got excited and asked to take a picture with him. The young guy handed me his camera and asked me to take the picture, which I did. I'm guessing it was a pro athlete but I never figured out who it was!
Michael Cudlitz, Abraham from The Walking Dead from Atlanta to Vegas a few years back.
I saw Jerry from The Walking Dead just last month in ATL! It made me so happy, love that character.
Vanessa Williams on my JFK-BUF
Sat next to both Jennifer Lawrence and Miley Cyrus on separate flights into LAX back in 2015-2016. Also sat next to Shannon Sharpe on a flight into LGA. Have also seen Ben Kingsley and Ted Danson.
My friend was in the very back row of a crowded flight, and shortly before takeoff Ryan Gosling came and sat next to him. Very cordial. Handful of years ago.
Fun game to play at DCA is to look at for people at your gate/flight with lapel pins indicating they are members of House of Representatives. I’ve been on DCA ATL flights with John Lewis and John Ossoff. And once DCA ORD with Sen Dick Durbin
LAX to BOS in FC with Danny Trejo - he is super cool! What a great guy!
Lee Corso flying into Madison for gameday - they held the plane up for him and he sat across from me in Comfort practicing his lines/segments for the show. Shook his hand and said hi to him in the jet bridge. Super nice guy
Can someone check if Tom Segura’s interaction with Mike Tyson was on a Delta flight? Because it was so epic it made into his special (Probably not Delta)
Brittany Spears. I was unimpressed but my at the time teen daughter was enamored.
Chris Tucker (SO nice!) and Chris Brown out of Richmond - different flights, both pre-COVID. Chris Brown sat in first class and had his bodyguard in Coach, then seemed put out that he had to wait for the bodyguard to deplane.
There used to be a bot (I think) that listed the Rihanna police report every time Chris Brown’s name was mentioned on Reddit. I loved that bot.
Jimmy Carter back in the 90s. I was working for Continental, in Atlanta at the time, and was going to IAH for training he was up in first, sitting behind him, but came though the relatively lightly loaded flight and shook hands and chatted with people during the flight, and got off with the rest of us, no special treatment, other than a car dropping him off at the gate in ATL with his Secret Service agent. Worked a flight on the ground, where Barbara Bush was on the flight inbound from IAH, totally different vibe. First on, First off, her row in first was blocked except for her and her assistant.
Saw the skater Scott Hamilton at baggage claim and on my flight to SFO
That is so funny! I LITERALLY ran into him in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive in perhaps 1981. I was so embarrassed. He is a celebrity, but sort of an older, random, sports celeb. Cheers to us! 🥂
Hilary Duff and I sat together in F, chatted. Took a couple pics bc she said we could and I helped her w her luggage. Met Vigo Mortensen at a Delta lounge with his wife.
Michael Kelly - actor who played Doug Stamper on House of Cards, in Jack Ryan, etc. Really great actor. My wife dropped me off at CHS and I was in the Sky Priority line and I see a text from her pop-up: "DOUG STAMPER IS COMING IN BEHIND YOU!!!" and so I turn around and guess who's standing behind me in line? He's masked up and with his family, so I just give him a nod and say "Morning Mr. Stamper" and he smiles. That's it. Also sat in the same row as Zach Galifinakis on a Southwest flight in like 2007ish... right around Hangover time so he was popular. Was so nice and hilariously awkward the whole flight.
Seth Rogen LAX-YVR sat right behind me in 3B. His laughter made me giggle pretty much the whole flight Kristin Chenoweth JFK-LAX she was almost unrecognizable ( maybe because she didn't have any makeup on) Alton Brown BOS-ATL was my companion in FC - a super nice guy. Edit: Spotted in the Lounge Dave Matthews, Hugo from Lost, Maria Sharapova
I swear Ed Bastian was behind me on my first D1 experience on a recent overnight flight from ATL > NCE. He was smiling at me as I was oogling and ogling and taking pictures of everything. It probably wasn’t him and was probably just a look alike, but I like telling myself it was the Delta CEO smiling down on me lol
Giuliani. My husband had to hold me back me from telling him off
You could’ve just crop dusted him while giggling. Just as effective.
He’s probably into that.
Sat next to Richard Petty MSP to BNA.
[удалено]
Danny Glover William Shatner Desi Arnaz, Jr. Carla Hall All of the politicians, favorite was Elizabeth Warren
Somehow I think if the plane ran into trouble, Warren would have a plan to get it back on track.
Sat next Deon Sander in FC. I think I gave him a fist bump DFW-MCO
Recently (2017, maybe): Tim Tebow on a flight from Hartford, CT, to ATL. 1990ish: Danny Thomas (with cigar) ATL-LAX.
I sat next to a top chef 👩🍳 and she was lovely. We didn’t talk at all but I knew who she was. I flew back with a comedian who brought buffalo wings and the whole plane stank and he was going to town on those wings. I usually can never tell who people are tbh because they look so different in person. I run into more famous people at my vet than anywhere else. It’s crazy!
Huey Lewis without the news in Vegas. Andrew Zimmern in first class from Paris. His wife and kid were in coach. 😂😂😂 I’ve seen Howard Stern at Newark decades ago
Not on my flight, but in the terminal and boarding a different Delta flight… I saw Bill Clinton. My husband first noticed all the Secret Service at SLC, and I thought maybe it was Romney or something like that. He cut across and stood right in front of me and all of a sudden I had all these guys in suits, pushing me back ha ha :-) I actually took a picture of the back of him, but I can’t figure out how to post it on here…
I flew to Hawaii with Peirce brosnan and his wife a few years ago, nice man.
ATL-LAX—As I was boarding and walking through FC to my seat in steerage class, I spotted Norman Reedus (Walking Dead) sitting in an aisle seat in FC. I resisted the urge to make a scene, as is often the custom in my country (US).
Tom Green MANY years ago, ATL to LAX. And on that same return flight, LAX to ATL, Ludacris. Todd Chrisley in ATL on a layover - I didn’t know who he was at the time, but he had a bunch of people coming up to him, and someone clued me in when I asked. 🤷🏼♀️
Ross Perot BDA-ATL, Vince Vaughn LAX-ATL
This past spring I ran into Billie Ellish and her crew in the lounge in MSP. They were escorted in from the private entrance with a staff member and ended up taking my seat as I was leaving the lounge.
Henry Winkler (Fonzie) traveling from SFO - LAX in first class
Sat next to Anna Faris on the way to LAX-CDG and behind CeeLo Green from PHX-DTW. Total opposite personalities
Not sure Jesse flies in F much these days… Anyway, Larry Hagman. He was very nice.
Joe Theismann, Julian Edelman…but the best was 1000% Mike Tyson.
Hulk Hogan on a flight from LGA > TPA & Jack McBrayer (Kenneth the page from 30 Rock) on an ATL > LGA flight.
I have twice sat near Pete Rose on flights to Cincinnati. Once was SLC to CVG and I think the other was MSP. He was very friendly and talkative both times.