'We're just really proud of you. I want to recognise the way you treat our great friends by giving too'
A baggage handler working for Virgin Australia has been granted a generous reward straight from the chief executive officer of the airline after he became viral for soothing a worried dog that was being transported to Perth airport.
The handler, named Chad Williams, received paid leave and business-class flights to anywhere on the Virgin network for his viral act.
It was personally made known to him by Virgin Australia CEO Jane Hrdlicka, who met Williams in a video shared by the airline online.
"We're just really proud of you," she told Williams. "I want to recognise the special way you treat our great friends by giving too."
"I know you've been getting lots of offers from amazing women around the world," teased Hrdlicka. "Ladies form an orderly, queue!"
Williams was rewarded after he was captured on video while soothing a worried dog owned by TV reporter Jacqui Felgate.
Felgate, who uploaded the clip online, said: "The awesome baggage guy was talking to all of the pets as they were loaded into the plane."
Williams received tons of praises for his act, with one of the comments even dubbing him as: "Employee of the month right there."
Read more: Virgin Australia HR lead on flexible working: 'Genuine human connection is pivotal'
In an interview later with Felgate, Williams shared that they really look out for the animals as best as they could because they probably feel scared.
"Because it's pretty loud out here and they're probably very scared, they don't really know where they're going or what's happening so try to look after them as best we can," he told Felgate.
"I was just reassuring him and asking him if he was ready to board really just like the passengers get asked up at the gate," he added.
"I am definitely a dog person but all the animals I sort of try and take care of because I'm a bit of a softie, despite the way I look."
Williams' clip that was uploaded on TikTok has since been viewed over 3.3 million times by users around the world.
