Picture this: you’re on a short flight from Savannah, Georgia, to Atlanta – typically a mere 35-minute journey – but instead, you find yourself spending over two and a half hours in the air. This was the reality for the passengers aboard Delta Flight 2411 on Sunday (March 26th).

35-Minute Flight (DL2411) Arrives Over 4 Hours Late

The flight, which was originally scheduled to depart at 7:21 AM EDT, took off more than three hours late at 10:26 AM EDT. Adding to the frustration, instead of arriving at its destination at 8:39 AM EDT, the flight finally landed at 1:03 PM EDT, making it a whopping 4 hours and 24 minutes late. Talk about an epic flight delay for a half-hour flight!

The circuitous route taken can be seen in the circuitous route the flight, between two points in Georgia, had to take into South Carolina then North Carolina to avoid the storms:

The main culprit behind this travel saga was a series of powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes that swept across the Southeast throughout the weekend, causing chaos for flights in the region. Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Delta’s primary hub, was hit particularly hard, leading to numerous delays and cancellations.

With these weather conditions causing disruption, Flight 2411 had to take an unexpected route. Instead of the usual direct path, the aircraft had to cover a distance of 844 miles, more than four times the direct distance of 214 miles between Savannah and Atlanta. As a result, the total travel time clocked in at 2 hours and 37 minutes – an incredibly long time for what should have been a brief trip.

Luckily, Delta offers free Wi-Fi to customers but no word yet on how the service worked on this flight operated by a Boeing 737 aircraft.

The passengers on this flight could have theoretically driven the distance between Savannah and Atlanta in less time. The road trip would have taken them around 3 hours and 40 minutes, give or take, depending on traffic conditions. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, and no one could have predicted the flight would take such a roundabout route.

Although the delay was undoubtedly an inconvenience, at least passengers aboard Flight 2411 got to experience an unexpectedly extended aerial tour of the Southeast. And, odds are, Delta’s marketing team is already ginning up a press release bragging about the complimentary add-on to the flight. After all, Delta isn’t responsible for compensation when a delay is a result of weather, as this undoubtedly was.

Bottom Line

In the end, the tale of Delta Flight 2411 is a reminder that sometimes, Mother Nature has her own plans, and there’s not much we can do but adapt and make the best of the situation. As for the passengers on this flight, this is definitely a story to share with friends and family — although they’d probably just as soon forget the trip ever happened.