A United Airlines captain offered a heartfelt apology after leaving three passengers behind in Newark, and his words struck a chord far beyond the terminal.

“We Saw You, We Felt For You” – United Airlines Pilot’s Emotional Apology To Passengers Left Behind

As flagged by One Mile At A Time, I quite appreciate the sentiment of United Airlines Boeing 787 captain Luis Perez, who wrote on LinkedIn about the passengers he had to leave behind on a recent flight from Newark (EWR) to Lisbon (LIS):

I want to say I am sorry to the passengers we left behind last night (October 12th) on United Flight 64 from Newark to Lisbon.

Our team had delayed the departure by six minutes to wait for late connecting passengers. Once everyone had boarded, the gate agent closed the flight, pulled the jetway, and we completed our final checklists in preparation for pushback.

Just as we were ready to go, the tug driver asked if we could take two additional bags that had just arrived from the late connection. We agreed, and the ramp crew quickly loaded them into the aft cargo compartment.

While that was happening, we noticed three people waving from the windows in the boarding area. At first, we thought they were pointing at the jetway — but we soon realized they were trying to get our attention, hoping to still make the flight.

It broke my heart to see them there, pleading to come aboard. Unfortunately, at that point, the flight was officially closed. The jetway had been disconnected, the gate agent had left, and the weight and balance had already been completed.

Reconnecting everything would have required reversing multiple safety and operational steps, causing a long delay for other passengers making onward connections.

Still, the sight of those passengers stayed with me.

It was a powerful reminder that behind every procedure and checklist, there are real people — with hopes, plans, and stories.

To those travelers: if you ever read this, please know that we saw you, we felt for you, and we truly wished we could have brought you with us.

It’s a very sweet note and a human one that expresses empathy and care. While some might dismiss it as just another “Good Leads The Way” marketing ploy by United, it strikes me as very sincere

Is This The Exception Or The Norm?

Of course, the captain made the right call: re-opening the aircraft door, even if the gate agent was still present, could have put the onward connections of many onboard in jeopardy. United’s Connection Saver technology calculates how long a flight can be held for late-arriving connecting passengers, and it appears this flight was already held for several minutes. Holding it longer could have hurt more people than it helped.

Maybe I’m naively optimistic, but I know several commercial airline pilots and they are all great people…while it might be rare to see this sentiment put in words, as Captain Perez did, I don’t think it’s all that rare a feeling. Pilots are people too, possess empathy, and also understand from personal experience that missing your connection can create a huge headache. I don’t think pilots ever take any delight in seeing people miss their connection (unless they are flying on standby and get a premium seat as a result…).

The broader issue is communication: as much as customers hate delays and cancellations, communication defuses tensions and calms people down. As technology continues to improve, airline tech like the United app can better keep passengers informed about their delays and connections, reducing those moments in which you wave to your aircraft as it taxis out of the gate.

Some have said the captain threw his colleagues under the bus by making this post, but I don’t see that at all. He’s not blaming anyone or throwing shade at the gate agents or operations team. Rather, he’s simply saying he sorry he could not get those passengers onboard.

CONCLUSION

In an industry where operational precision often overshadows personal connection, Captain Perez’s reflection is a reminder that empathy always has a place in the cockpit. Procedures exist for good reason, but moments like this show that the best crews never lose sight of the people behind every boarding pass. It’s a small gesture, but one that makes United’s slogan feel just a bit more real.

image: Luis Perez / LinkedIn