This story has been updated.
After canceling 3,000 flights due to the severe thunderstorms and tornado watch that plagued the Southeast Wednesday, Delta Air Lines is catering to passengers' appetites to help ease their frustration.
» RELATED: Delta woes extend to third day: ‘It was like a madhouse’
The Atlanta-based airline ordered more than 450 boxes of pizza for hundreds of stranded passengers at airports in Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Ohio, Kentucky and other states with canceled or delayed flights affected by the storms.
This isn’t Delta’s first time offering free grub to keep customers happy.
Last year, during Delta's massive power outage that led to 2,300 canceled flights, the airline brought affected passengers donuts, pizza and free booze.
And in 2015, after a string of storms caused passengers heading to Atlanta to divert to South Carolina, Delta threw a few pizza parties to ease the pain.
“We know it’s not fun to be stuck on the ground somewhere,” Delta corporate communications manager Michael Thomas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Though Thomas doesn’t know exactly how many pizza boxes were dispatched, he said several stations in the Southeast, are in on the action.
In Panama City, Florida, Delta employees ordered 60 pizzas and 20 trays of chicken biscuits to feed well over 300 customers, he said.
Those stranded at the Nashville International Airport received 160 pizzas, plus 60 foot-long subs.
Some stations even brought out games and coloring books for passengers traveling with small children.
“It’s just a small gesture but it’s one that our customers do appreciate,” Thomas said.
Several passengers took to Twitter to offer their gratitude:
But many others weren’t satisfied.
According to AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi, Delta typically has approximately 1,000 peak-day departures a day from Atlanta.
» RELATED: Delta cancels 300 flights due to thunderstorm
The Federal Aviation Administration, Delta and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport advised travelers Wednesday to check their flight status to find out if theirs is affected by the storms.
Unfortunately, Yamanouchi reported, flight cancellations continued through Friday due to either crews being out of place or crew rest requirements after the storms.
The company said Friday it is “working hard to stabilize the operation to get it back to a reliable state,” and also warned that because of heavy spring break travel, there are few open seats for rebooking, leaving limited options for travelers whose flights were cancelled, Yamanouchi reported.
Visit airport.blog.ajc.com for more.
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