Southwest Pilot Surprises His 1,000,000th Passenger

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A Southwest Airlines flight captain had a nice surprise for his one millionth passenger.

On a recent Southwest flight, Captain John Richie took over the intercom system to tell the story of his career as a pilot and made a point to personally thank his one millionth passenger with a bottle of champagne and an envelope containing cash - paying the woman back the cost of her ticket.

Flight attendant Jennifer Todd recorded the announcement before the flight from Denver to Pittsburgh.

"Twenty two years ago I retired from the United States Air Force," said Captain Richie. "I had the privileged of flying F-16s, both as a combat pilot and as a test pilot. For the past 22 years I've been flying for Southwest."

The captain then announces he is transporting a special passenger, his one millionth!

Besides presenting the woman with a bottle of champagne, the captain said he, "did a little snooping and found out how much you paid for your ticket."

The captain presented the passenger with the bottle of bubbly and an envelope full of cash - with money from his own pocket.