Passengers Say Delta Regional Flight Was Held For CEO’s Daughter — Upgraded Passenger Sent Back to Coach

On Thursday night, Delta flight 4279 from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah operated by SkyWest, was held on the ground after boarding while waiting for late-arriving connecting passengers.

Passengers report that the captain reported the cause of the delay being a request from their “boss.”

One passenger reports being asked to give up their first class seat for the late-arriving traveler. Passenger Jay Leishman, who had been upgraded, was downgraded for the woman. He said the crew appeared embarrassed and repeatedly apologized.

The flight departed 53 minutes late. Airline staff reportedly told customers on board that the late traveler was the daughter of a SkyWest executive. A passenger who sat in front of her says she’s the daughter of SkyWest CEO Russell Childs.

SkyWest refused to confirm passenger identities and said the flight was held for “more than one passenger.”

Update: SkyWest confirms that he had been upgraded into the seat of a passenger that was part of the group for whom the flight was being held, and that the passenger arrived within 15 minutes of the revised departure time. I surmise that the flight boarded based on its original schedule, and gate tasks like dropping passengers and last minute upgrades, must have been done based on the original planned departure. It remains unclear when the revised departure time of the flight was posted.

Hey @Delta @SkyWestAirlines my daughter is on dl4279 tonight from SLC to SGU and right after boarding the pilot came on and said “my boss told me that we have to wait 40 min for a passenger before we can take off.”

That’s great that you can modify your operations based on…

— Roger Seheult, MD (@RogerSeheult) March 27, 2026

It was NOT the crew. It was the @SkyWestAirlines CEO’s daughter. An entire plane was held up for her convenience, including elderly people and the guy next to me, who was trying to get home to care for his sick wife. I was on the flight. The crew was disgusted.

— Paul Brown (@pfbrown86) March 27, 2026

Not sure what you mean by “source,” @MKE_NGK? I was on the flight, talked to the crew, sat in front of the guy who was moved out of his seat, and sat immediately in front of the young woman who was seated in his place. I was there.

— Paul Brown (@pfbrown86) March 27, 2026

According to SkyWest,

While we regularly hold flights for late connecting customers if operations allow, the time spent onboard in Salt Lake City awaiting departure of flight 4279 to St. George on Thursday night was lengthier than expected. The flight was delayed 40 minutes for several late connecting customers due to East Coast weather as it was the last flight of the night. We apologize to our customers for their experience.

This reminds me of when Delta CFO, Warren Jenson was accused of getting preferential treatment for his non-rev children over paying passengers. On March 4, 1999, a flight from Atlanta was delayed 24 minutes so three of Jenson’s kids could make the flight – reportedly trumping paid passengers for first class seats. Jenson apologized and agreed to give up his flying privileges for six months. He had served as CFO of NBC and left Delta shortly thereafter for Amazon, spending time also at Electronic Arts, Nielsen and LiveRamp as well.

More From View from the Wing