ATLANTA — During a delayed Atlanta flight, a man's love for music and making people happy showed unity during the holiday season.
Wayne Hoey, an Army band veteran and retired middle school band director, was returning home from Detroit with his wife when they received news that a delayed flight from Atlanta to Augusta on Saturday would be longer because a replacement copilot got stuck in traffic.
"We're all stuck in this tube, and there's no place to go, and the seats are not big enough to begin with. I just do what I do, and that is, I've been teaching music for so long, I've been playing music for so long. This is what makes me happy," he said.
Kate Dailey, an actress, was a passenger on the plane when she noticed the irritation before Hoey began to play. She described the mood and the growing frustrations.
"So we'd already been waiting for at least 30 minutes at that point, and they told us it'll be at least another 30 minutes or longer than that. So you could just feel the collective irritation," she said.
Hoey then kindly asked the flight attendant from his seat if he was allowed to play his saxophone for passengers.
"She looks at me and says, 'You have a saxophone?' I said yes. And I pointed up to the bin above me," Hoey shared.
"She says, 'Let me go ask permission.' So she goes up to the front of the plane, and she comes back, and she says, 'That would be wonderful.' How do we introduce you? I said, ma'am, no, don't introduce me."
Hoey then pulled out his saxophone for passengers on the flight and asked if anyone had a favorite Christmas tune.
Dailey described the atmosphere change as Hoey blew into the saxophone.
"He was going up and down the aisle, he was taking requests from people, people started singing along, and it was just, it was such a beautiful moment of service that this man had this gift of music, and he decided to, while we were all waiting to, to give that and to share that with us. And especially in a time where there isn't a lot of, you know, strangers giving each other joy," Dailey described.
Hoey even played "Baby Shark" for the kids who were on the plane, engaging them and making them smile. Dailey added that was one of her favorite songs Hoey played.
"One of the toddlers was there on her dad's lap, and she's just smiling, and I don't know why, I just started playing baby shark, and she started bouncing on his, in his lap, and everybody started singing along," Hoey described the heartwarming moment.
Dailey added she was glad to be a passenger along for the experience.
"It was such a lovely thing to witness and such a gift to everyone during a stressful travel time. Thank you, good sir, for your service then and now. You just renewed my faith in humanity," Dailey said in a Facebook post. "It was such a wonderful moment. I feel very blessed that I was able to experience that. He is a light in the community. We need more of that."
11Alive spoke with Hoey on Tuesday, who shared his love for teaching, spreading joy and spreading the gift of music.
"I just enjoy teaching; I enjoy kids. I enjoy music, and I just put it all together," he added.