11.11.2026 22:20
Christopher Donisi, who was faced with a lifetime flight ban by the captain because of a joke he made on a plane at age 9 in the US, achieved a surprising success 34 years later. The 43-year-old plumber, who won a competition in which about 6,000 people participated, was selected as the new announcement voice of Boston Logan International Airport. Donisi's voice will be heard by about 43 million passengers a year.
A prank Christopher Donisi, who lives in the US state of Massachusetts, played in his childhood came back into the spotlight years later with a contest he won. Banned for life from flying by an airline, Donisi is now preparing to welcome millions of passengers.
HE PRESSED THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT CALL BUTTON 15 TIMES
The incident happened in the early 1990s, when Donisi was only 9 years old and traveling alone from Boston to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Donisi discovered the button used to call the cabin attendant on the plane and pressed it repeatedly for fun. Each time the attendant came, the boy turned off the call light and shortly afterward did the same thing again.
Donisi, who pressed the button about 15 times, had his prank come to an unexpected end after the plane landed.
THE PILOT SAID HE HAD BANNED HIM FROM FLYING FOR LIFE
According to Donisi's account, at the end of the trip the captain took him aside and told him he could never fly with Delta Air Lines again. The pilot also took back the plastic pilot wings that had previously been given to the boy.
Donisi stated that his aunt Phyllis, who met him at the airport, also witnessed the incident, and recounted that his aunt led him to the car by the ear.
34 YEARS LATER, HE LEFT 6,000 PEOPLE BEHIND
About 34 years after this event from his childhood, an unexpected development occurred in Donisi's life.
The Massachusetts Port Authority, operator of Boston Logan International Airport, organized a contest to select the airport's new announcement voice.
About 6,000 people applied for the contest, which began in September. Participants were asked to read in their own voices a short text welcoming passengers arriving in Boston.
While about 35,000 public votes were cast in the contest, Donisi, who made it among the eight finalists, was announced as the winner on November 5.
Thus Donisi, who as a child faced being banned from an airline's flights, years later became the first official announcement voice of Boston Logan International Airport.
UNABLE TO RESIST HIS MOTHER'S INSISTENCE, HE APPLIED
Donisi, who has been a plumber for about 22 years, was encouraged to enter the contest by his mother, Helen Donisi.
Donisi said his 70-year-old mother sent him the link to the contest and that he initially did not plan to apply.
A few days before the deadline, when his mother insisted again, Donisi went down to the lower floor of his house and prepared several voice recordings, then sent one of them to the contest.
Donisi, who drew attention with his distinctive Boston accent and deep voice, managed to become one of the finalists.
HE FOUND OUT HE HAD WON LIVE ON AIR
Thinking he would join an online meeting with the other finalists to learn the contest result, Donisi found himself facing the radio program's hosts and Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Rich Davey.
When it was announced live on air that he had won, Donisi was greatly surprised and could not hide his excitement.
After the contest, at a press conference held at the airport, he also voiced the welcome announcement he had prepared for passengers.
NOW 43 MILLION PASSENGERS WILL HEAR HIS VOICE
Donisi, who is married and the father of two children, is expected to have his voice recordings begin being used at Boston Logan International Airport from mid-November.
Donisi's welcome announcements will be heard at the airport, which serves about 43 million passengers a year. Donisi, who will be paid for his new role, will not give up his plumbing profession either.
Donisi, who was told that he would not be allowed to fly again because of the prank he played as a child, years later succeeded in becoming the voice that millions of passengers would hear at the same airport.