For most people who have access to them, an airport lounge is a place to sit down, take a break, grab a drink or something to eat, and (hopefully) have a bit of quietness before, or sometimes after your flight.
However, for 37-year-old Delta passenger Kyle Philippi and his friend Gary Keylon, a visit to one of the Delta Sky Clubs at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last fall wasn’t a chance to relax and replenish. Instead, it was a way to get their revenge on the airline after they had been hit with what Philippi said was “days” of delays.
Flight Delays and Frustrations
Philippi is a DoorDash driver and social media influencer. He was booked onto a flight to Ecuador from Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 22, but, as part of the CrowdStrike meltdown, it was canceled.
Philippi and Keylon were offered an alternative flight days later. Delta offered to reimburse them $100 each, but Philippi countered that the combined $200 didn’t even come close to covering the losses they incurred from pre-booked vacation activities.
Revenge at the Sky Club
In a now-viral post shared on TikTok, he claimed Delta wouldn’t compensate him for the ‘thousands’ of dollars he ‘lost’ while waiting for his flight, so he attempted to ‘get it back in the Sky Club’.
“POV: Delta doesn’t compensate for thousands of dollars lost from delaying our flights for days so we gonna get it back in the Sky Club. This will set them back.”
With a background soundtrack by AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, Philippi and Keylon with proceeded to consume pretty much everything the Sky Club had to offer. They also thought it best to waste food, drinks, water, paper and other materials in their attempt to “get back” at the airline.
PC: Kyle Philippi/TikTok
The Sky Club Feast
Footage shows them taking and eating multiple full plates of food – sandwiches, mini pita breads, ribs, salad, rolls, cookies, popcorn, Cheez-Its, you name it. They got cup after cup of coffee and soda. They got glasses of red wine, which they then proceeded to throw out (Philippi says he doesn’t drink). They took every printed Business Traveler magazine on the shelf. They emptied out the hand sanitizer container. They even let the shower run while pumping out every bit of soap, shampoo, etc.
PC: Kyle Philippi/TikTok
They didn’t get back their “thousands of dollars” Philippi says they ‘lost’ money because he had to wait for his flights, but they consumed more than two people would usually eat and use during a typical stay, so I guess he felt better for a little while.
Here’s the video:
@kylephilippi This will set them back! #delta #skymiles #deltamedallionlife #skyclub #microsoftoutage #flightdelay #layover @delta #airport
Regret Sets In?
Philippi and his traveling partner may have had a couple of second thoughts after they were done. Philippi said he ” didn’t even want” the cookies he was eating towards the end, and Keylon said he wound up with “Delta’s Revenge” after all the binge eating.
@kylephilippi Replying to @Kelly #delta #skymiles #deltamedallionlife #skyclub #microsoftoutage #flightdelay #layover #airport
Public Reaction
Of the thousands of comments left for the video, most were complimentary for Philippi “giving it to the man”:
- This is the level of petty we strive for 🤣 — Lauren Gunnell
- As someone who has been completely wronged by Delta, thank you for your service! — melimac
- I don’t like to throw around the word “Hero”, but this situation calls for it. — Missy
- Stand on principles my boys. Good job. — GooderLogic
- I approve this pettiness. You do it for the team. Keep it up👍 — codyvlogtv
However, responses from frequent flyers were very different. “They should lose their membership privileges.” “This was childish and wasteful…” “That’s horrible, thinking they are that entitled…” And my favorite, “Class can’t be obtained with miles.”
Defending Their Actions
The duo were featured on Inside Edition a few days later, where they tried to justify their actions.
“I saw some businessmen that drank much more wine than I dumped,” said Philippi. “So I don’t think we went too far.”
However, Philippi must have felt some fear of retribution because one of his replies to his TikTok video was, ““@Delta, please don’t revoke my pass. Love you bye.”
Was It Worth It?
Personally, I thought the antics of these two grown men were self-centered and childish. Nothing of what they did will actually hurt Delta or its bottom line. But it did make a whole lot of unnecessary extra work for the Delta representatives working in the lounge that day, to say nothing of their fellow travelers having to wait for the food, magazines, snacks and soap to be replenished before they could use them.
Many of Philippi’s videos are centered around work he’s done in and for churches. It makes me wonder WWJD if He were in the same situation. Would HE have essentially trashed the Sky Club lounge, too?
If Philippi and his friend were 7, I could maybe see this prank being age appropriate. But at 37? No. Just…no.
But to be honest, it looks as if Philippi was more interested in clicks and working with Delta in the future, than actual revenge.
“We’ve tagged them in the video,” Philippi said in an interview. “Some have said this was a great ad for the Sky Club and I even messaged them on TikTok saying there’s some ideas for a fun collab since the video has gone viral but I’ve not received any response.”
Unless he’s keeping it a secret, it doesn’t appear that Philippi has been contacted by Delta.
Feature Photo: Delta Air Lines
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