A flight was delayed in Atlanta for over an hour. An Army vet got his sax from the overhead bin and played Christmas songs

(CNN) — Army veteran Wayne Hoey takes his saxophone with him everywhere. It came in handy this month when his flight sat on the tarmac for more than an hour in Atlanta.

Hoey, 70, was returning from a family visit to Detroit and was on a Delta Air Lines connecting flight to Augusta, Georgia. As his plane waited at the gate, delayed by a staffing issue, he noticed a few toddlers across the aisle were starting to fuss.

So Hoey flagged down a flight attendant who was handing out water and offered to help.

“I asked her, ‘Ma’am, would you like me to play a few tunes on my saxophone? I think I can get them to quiet down,’” he said. “She asked, ‘You have a saxophone?’ I said, ‘It’s in the
overhead bin.’ “

The flight attendant got permission from the cockpit and Hoey started his impromptu serenade. He began to roam up and down the aisle, Kenny G style, playing Christmas songs on his sax as passengers clapped, sang along and shouted requests from their seats.

“I asked, ‘Who has a favorite Christmas tune?’ he told CNN. “Finally someone said, ‘Oh Holy Night.’ Then ‘Jingle Bells.’ As I played and finished one, I’d hear another title. And I’d just go
ahead and play it.”

Hoey said he treated his captive audience to a handful of songs, including “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” and “Silent Night.” The musician, who has four children and 10 grandkids, also didn’t forget why he got his saxophone down in the first place. He broke into the toddler classic, “Baby Shark,” for a young child who bounced up and down in their seat to the music.

In response to a passenger who asked him about his favorite Christmas song, Hoey also played “Mary, Did You Know?” by Pentatonix, a version he said moves him to tears because of its powerful vocals.

“All these songs mean something to someone,” he said. “They make connections.”

He played in the US Army Band for decades

Hoey’s life has always been intertwined with music.

He learned how to play the sax while serving in the military, he said. He attended the Armed Forces School of Music at the US Navy’s Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia, near Norfolk, and performed in the US Army Band for two decades, including a stint with the Eighth Army Band in South Korea.

The saxophone transcends almost all music genres, he said. “You will find it in classical music, in period music — different eras,” he said. “In rock, in jazz, in reggae. It’s just so easy to enjoy and listen to.”

After he retired from the military, Hoey attended Colorado State University and got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education. He taught music in Colorado schools before moving to a suburb of Augusta, where he sometimes substitutes as a middle
school and elementary school teacher in yes, music.

“It’s just a joy for me to teach kids music. It really is,” he said, adding that his decision to reach for the saxophone to soothe frayed nerves on the plane was instinctual.

“Music is all I’ve ever done, and I feel comfortable doing it,” he said. “This is a wonderful time of the year. And when it was a little tense on the plane, it was just the first thing I could think of doing.”

The airline applauded Hoey’s musical performance.

“While Delta’s in-flight entertainment system offers hundreds of options to engage our customers, we thank him for providing this lighthearted moment as well as his service to our country,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

His viral airplane performance has had a big
impact

Hoey is not sure how long he played his saxophone on the plane. He guesses 15-20 minutes. For him, time stops when he’s playing. But he’s sure of one thing: Those few minutes have already had a major impact on his life.

One passenger, Kate Dailey, filmed him playing the saxophone and posted a video to her Facebook page.

“I was surprised and delighted when this gentleman got up and put together his saxophone and started playing carols … up and down the aisle. The mood on the plane immediately changed,”she wrote in her post.

“People were clapping, singing along and cheering this man for his playing. It was such a lovely thing to witness and such a gift to everyone during a stressful travel time.”

She added: “Thank you good sir, for your service then and now. You just renewed my faith in humanity.”

Hoey said a woman who goes to his church told him about the Facebook video. She was one of several people who jumped into the Facebook comments to share his identity.

“After that, it just exploded,” Hoey said. “People have been reaching out to me — people I haven’t talked to in years, in decades.”

Before the post, he had no idea that someone had recorded a video or that it was a hit on social media.

“I usually play with my eyes closed. So I didn’t see a lot of people with cameras out,” he said.

Hoey has several saxophones and carries at least one everywhere he goes. He plans to continue the tradition, which he’s maintained since his days in the military. After all, he said, you never know when you’ll get a chance to bring a smile to people’s faces.

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