Teens' Trip Nearly Grounded by Flight Cancellation

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A group of Oklahoma teens on their way overseas for a goodwill mission were nearly grounded by a plane cancellation.

Cheers mixed with signs of relief Wednesday afternoon at Will Rogers after a group of teens received word that a nearly canceled trip was back on.

"We thought ‘well, maybe we'll just put them on another flight.' Well we waited and waited and waited and there were no other flights," said William Billups, one of the teen's parents.

The students were supposed to fly on Delta Airlines, but when they got to Will Rogers, their flight had been canceled.

"When they first told us, they said it was overbooked. Then they said it had mechanical problems," parent Jane Billups said.

The group was traveling as student ambassadors with People to People, an organization founded in the 1950s by President Dwight Eisenhower to help understand cultural differences.

The group's itinerary starts in Ireland. From there the group travels to Wales, then Scotland and finally England and one day missed meant the teens would miss out on a lot.

"Everything is structured. Everything is timed to the minute to ensure safety and to ensure that they get where they need to be when they need to be there," parent Chris Hudson said.

Hudson said the cancellation became mired in confusion because of little communication from Delta.

"They could have facilitated working with the other airlines instead of the parents having to do that, and I think that's what presented most of the issues, is that we had to handle it ourselves," Hudson said.

That's when one of the teen's parents went over to the Southwest Airlines counter who agreed to reroute the group through Houston.

"You got to love southwest. They took it on and got all of them together," Hudson said.

From Houston, they group was able to board a British Airways flight and continue on to Europe.

"It's a great thing that someone will take responsibility when it's needed and not just give you the runaround," Jane Billups said.

Delta Airlines could not be contacted for comment.

The teens will spend about three weeks overseas.