Man Takes Flight To Sidney, US Instead Of Sydney, Australia After Mixing Up Airport Codes

New Yorker Ends Up At Sidney, Montana Instead Of Sydney, Australia Due To Mix-Up

Imagine wanting to fly to Sydney, Australia — and ending up in Sidney, Montana, somehow. Incredibly enough, this was precisely what happened to Kingsley Burnett from New York.

Planning a vacation in Sydney, he mixed up the airport codes and booked a flight to Sidney in the United States (US).

Burnett eventually had to wait for his return flight at a local hotel, the Boothill Inn. The hotel manager revealed this was the second time a guest had mixed up airport codes for Sydney and Sidney.

Man ends up in Sidney instead of Sydney

Speaking to KTVQ, Burnett said he realised his mistake when he saw snow-capped mountains instead of sunny beaches from the window of his plane.

“I saw [a] mountain top covered in white snow,” he said on 1 Feb. “At that point, I knew I was in trouble.”

A small Cape Air jet waiting to take him to the town of Sidney in Montana after he touched down in Billings was a dead giveaway of the troublesome situation he had landed himself in.

The unfortunate incident resulted from mixing up the airport codes used for Sidney and Sydney.

While SYD is used to refer to Australia, SDY is used to refer to eastern Montana city.

“It’s a matter of acronyms—the S-Y-D as opposed to S-D-Y. Somebody has to fix that,” Burnett shared.

He was also trying to cut down on costs while purchasing the tickets.

Burnett added that he should have focused on getting the destination correct instead of going for the cheaper flight.

Airport staff assist him with temporary lodging

Burnett approached the American Airlines ticket desk in Billings, KTVQ reports.

Carol Castellano, who was manning the counter, assisted him with his situation.

As he wouldn’t have made it for his cruise in Sydney in time, she booked him a return flight and a hotel room at Boothill Inn for the night. In addition, he rescheduled his Sydney trip for June.

Praising Castellano, Burnett said,

For Carol, it was not a paycheck. It was a human being she was dealing with.

The general manager of Boothill Inn, Shelli Mann, also helped Burnett catch his return flight the day after.

“Imagine how it would feel, to think you’re landing in Sydney, Australia, and here you are in Billings, Montana,” Mann said.

She added that this was the second time they’d had a guest be the victim of such a mix-up.

Friendship of a lifetime

Despite his mistake derailing his vacation, not everything about Burnett’s experience was a disaster.

He told both Castellano and Mann that he’d been excited for his trip, especially as he’d have the chance to see some kangaroos.

However, the situation he’d found himself in rewarded him with something even better — a friendship for life.

“Montana didn’t have kangaroos. It had Carol. And that was good enough for me,” he said.

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Featured image adapted from Unsplash and American Mobile.