Pilot hands out hundreds of roses for Mother’s Day: ‘cabin of roses’
NEW YORK (PIX11) – A plane full of hundreds of red roses will land in LaGuardia Airport Sunday in a Mother’s Day tradition that’s coming to an end.
Russ Wayant, a Captain at American Airlines, has passed out roses on Mother’s Day for 12 years. He’s handed out over 4,000 roses to female passengers traveling on the holiday, Wayant said.
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“It’s a joy to do it, passengers love it,” Wayant said. “Once everybody gets their roses I ask them to hold their roses up in the cabin… and it looks like the cabin is full of roses.”
The tradition started when Wayant went to a florist to get Mother’s Day flowers for his crew. At the florist it dawned on him, ‘wouldn’t it be neat if everybody in the airplane had a rose,’ Wayant recalled.
Now, preparations for his “cabin of roses” flight start a month in advance, and the florist knows to expect him.
But given Wayant is retiring, this year will be his last.
“It’s bittersweet. I look forward to this flight every year,” he said.
This year’s flight took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and landed in New York. Wayant will also pass out hundreds of flowers on a flight going the opposite direction later Sunday.
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered local news for years. She has been with PIX11 since 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.
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