VIP Passengers Delay Flight, Ends up Being Elves on a Shelf Parents Surprised Their Kids With

Jeff Freeman (@jeff.freeman4) was traveling to Florida during the holidays with his family. In a viral TikTok that's accrued over 5.3 million views on the popular social media application, he showed how Southwest Airlines helped his daughters Ava and Mia feel some extra special holiday magic, by bringing two VIP passengers on board.

"Our flight was delayed, waiting on two VIP passengers," a text overlay in the video reads at the onset. The TikToker records what appears to be a full cabin, with numerous folks on the flight waiting for the flight to finally take off.

Next, the camera cuts to a woman speaking to a young child. She instructs the kid that the pilot informed those seated in the aircraft that they were waiting for two VIP passengers to board "before [they] can leave."

She went on to explain to the child, "So we have to wait patiently for the VIP passengers, OK?"

The child tells their mother, "OK, Mama."

Mom continues, "I don't know who it is. Do you know who it is?" she asks her kid who shakes their head. "I don't know either, but we're going to find out, OK?"

Next, the woman turns around to talk to someone else seated behind her on the airplane.

"Ava, we're waiting for two VIP passengers." It sounds like Ava then asked the woman who the distinguished fliers are, to which mom replies, "I don't know baby. I have no idea but that's what we're waiting for."

Afterward, the video cuts back again to an aisle view of the airplane.

A flight attendant rocking a red blazer can be seen standing in the aisle and holding a clipboard. Next, the person manning the camera turns it back again to focus on Mom. "VIP means very important person."

The child then nods their head in understanding, "Ohhh."

"Very important person," Mom repeats. Next, her child clarifies, "Very important persons."

Mom agrees with the child's clarification, "Yes, very important persons because there is two, you got that right."

Afterward, an announcement can be heard echoing throughout the cabin of the airplane, Mom then points to the front of the plane, signaling to her child to pay attention to the captain's speech.

"We have Peppermint and Snowflake on board here tonight," the pilot says.

This prompts an astounded reaction from passengers, and the person off camera can be heard saying, "What?" incredulously. "Where's their owners at?"

Another flight attendant can be seen walking through the aisle of the airplane, holding up two elves in containers, the child can be heard excitedly calling out the names of the elves. "Peppermint, Snowflake!" she shouts, a smile beaming across her face.

The attendant then stops at the aisle where Mom is sitting. They hand one of the elves to the young girl seated next to Mom, and the other to Ava, who is sitting in the aisle behind the two. Both of the children are glowing with excitement, broad smiles plastered on their faces as they welcome the elves into their arms.

"Ahh I missed you!" one of the young girls can be heard saying before the video cuts to a picture of the two Elves. At the end of the video, a photo of mom holding the two elves pops up on the screen.

They are each holding placards in front of them. One of the inserts reads, "Permission to Travel," while the other says, "Take me with you!! Christmas is coming."

Jeff, who was recording the video, shared some additional context about their family trip, and the two VIP passengers in question in a text overlay of his video.

He wrote: "We were ready to take off on Southwest Flight #1087 when the crew announced a slight delay because we were waiting on two VIPs. Imagine Ava and Mia’s surprise when the missing passengers turned out to be their elves of the shelf, Snowflake and Peppermint!"

Going on, he penned: "The whole plane erupted in applause, and the girls were beyond excited! Huge THANK YOU to the amazing Southwest Airlines crew for sprinkling some extra holiday magic on our trip to Florida. You made a memory we’ll never forget!"

At the end of his message, he wrote: "Sometimes Christmas magic happens when you least expect it — even before takeoff!"

And it seems like there were several other folks in the comments section of the video who agreed with Jeff's post. Including the official Southwest Airlines TikTok account, which wrote: "Peppermint & Snowflake — best VIP customers."

Others appreciated some of the commentary from other passengers: "The person in the background saying 'they almost missed the flight,'" one remarked.

Someone else said that they were impressed with the response Ava and Mia's mother showcased during the video: "Can we take a moment for that mother??? Kind, calm, and even magical during what is a notoriously stressful endeavor?? She put in the work!"