Flight attendant shows kindness to widower on flight with a seat for ashes; Gone Viral

AIRLINES and flight attendants tend to cop a fair bit of flak, whether it be the fallout from flying horror stories to dealing with passengers’ bizarre requests.

The beautiful story has been doing the rounds on Twitter in Japan after it was published in local press.

Following the death of his wife of more than 50 years, a Japanese man was transporting his wife’s ashes back to their hometown, according to the story as translated on Japan’s SoraNews24 site.

Carrying his wife’s ashes in a large bag, the widower asked at the check-in counter to make sure it was OK to take on the plane.

So far, so good. He boarded the plane, put the bag into the overhead locker and sat down.

Enter our hero flight attendant, who – having apparently been tipped off by the check-in staff – approached the man and said: “The seat next to you is empty. Would your travelling companion like to sit down?”

The flight attendant took the bag down for him, put it in the seat beside him, placing the seatbelt on, and brought refreshments for both “passengers” during the flight.

“We were able to have a final trip together, just the two of us,” the man told the newspaper.

Unsurprisingly, the story has clocked up thousands of likes, shares and comments praising the airline and flight attendant’s caring response to the man’s difficult journey – with many saying it brought tears to their eyes.

Read more of the response and story at SoraNews24.

Source: Flight attendant: Flight attendant shows kindness to widower on flight