Virgin Atlantic has admitted it used a Boeing 787 to fly a pilot to work in Manchester after being left short of staff.
More than 200 passengers on a flight from Heathrow to Boston suffered a 90 minute delay as their plane was diverted to Manchester to drop the pilot off last Friday.
The plane’s fuel tanks also had to be refilled at Manchester so it could complete the longer transatlantic journey.
Virgin said that it had been left with no choice after the intended pilot for a Manchester-New York became ill just hours before take-off.
A spokesman told the Standard: “We investigated every possible option to relocate our pilot, and while we never want to disappoint our customers, this was the only avenue available to us.”
They added: “While we appreciate this caused a one hour and 30 minute delay to customers onboard the VS11 to Boston, it was necessary to ensure 228 passengers on the VS127 from Manchester could also make their journey as planned.
“We would like to thank the customers onboard the VS11 for their patience and understanding in these exceptional circumstances.”
The total bill for the pilot’s journey was likely to be more than £10,000, according to the Independent.
This includes the extra fuel, airport handling costs and air-traffic control charges.
However, Virgin refused to be drawn on the total cost, adding that the figure was speculative.
