Southwest flight attendant saves the day with a crying baby midair

Flight attendants are amazing, aren’t they? They’re trained for every type of emergency, from extreme turbulence to screaming infants—and they smooth things over like magic. One Southwest flight attendant recently showcased her baby-handling skills in a now-viral TikTok, and honestly, she deserves a raise.

Mom Jessica Nelson shared a video about her recent experience onboard a Southwest Airlines flight. Her baby was flying for the first time and began crying inconsolably mid-flight. And because no one is more stressed out about a crying baby on an airplane than the parents of said crying baby, it’s probably fair to assume Nelson was panicking in the moment.

Enter: the “angel” flight attendant who fixed everything with her flight attendant magic.

“To the flight attendant who gave my screaming baby a plane tour, thank you,” Nelson wrote across the video.”Southwest, she deserves a raise.”

In the caption, the mom continued her praise of the flight attendant by writing, “On flight 2890 yesterday this angel saved me on my baby’s first plane ride.”

How sweet is that? I can honestly say that I’ve seen firsthand how flight attendants go out of their way to make sure babies and moms are having the smoothest flight possible—especially during those long ones. And what baby wouldn’t want to be bounced around in a kind woman’s arms, looking at all the cool people and things inside the giant, loud, metal contraption they’re stuck in for the unforeseeable future?

Many commenters weighed in, offering their praise to the Southwest flight attendant in the video.

“Everyone is happy– baby, flight attendant & especially Mom!”

“I saw a video of a flight attendant saying she wished more moms would ask for their help because most flight attendants want to play with the babies.”

“Bless her soul, people like her make such a difference.”

“My two year old and I are flying southwest tomorrow for his first flight. This makes my nerves feel better!”

“I needed to see this today. taking my toddler on her first flight next week and I’m so worried. I don’t want people to hate me if she cries at all.”

Amazingly, one viewer shared that they were able to identify the Southwest flight attendant who gave the cute little baby a VIP tour of the plane in the video. She said the woman was going to be nominated for an award with the airline for her work.

“I have a friend at Southwest and they were able to figure out who she was and have her nominated for the Heroes of the Heart award!”

We love to see women helping women, moms helping moms, and people remembering we’re all part of this world together.

A version of this post was published in July 2023. It has been updated.