--- title: This Dancing Airport Employee Brings Joy to the Tarmac description: This New York airport gets a boost from one of the Southwest employees who helps guide planes down the runway with his sharp dance moves. canonical: https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-25T14:53:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:48:16.021Z og:title: Dancing Airport Employee Is Here to Bring You So Much Joy og:description: Turning the tarmac into a dance floor og:url: https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dancing Airport Employee Is Here to Bring You So Much Joy twitter:description: Turning the tarmac into a dance floor twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Exuberant Dancing Airport Employee Will Instantly Make Your Day More Enjoyable  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2017 2:53 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2017 2:53 PM UTC Sitting on the tarmac in a plane waiting for departure can be [an exercise in patience](http://time.com/4946718/most-disliked-airports-united-states/). But for some passengers who snag a window sweat on [Southwest](http://time.com/money/4979937/southwest-just-announced-cheap-flights-to-hawaii/) flights exiting Greater Rochester International Airport in New York, there’s a whole new sideshow to help add some joy to the experience of taking to the friendly skies. Southwest employee Kyran Ashford is the exuberant dancing sensation bringing light and life to the tarmac of the upstate airport, captured in a [now-viral Facebook video](https://www.facebook.com/pg/TerryMcBrideMusic/videos/) by passenger country music artist Terry McBride and posted over the weekend to social media. Decked in his highlighter-yellow vest and wielding traffic control sticks, Ashford gives a veritable masterclass in dancing-while-working. [Channing Tatum](http://time.com/4895994/channing-tatum-dance-store-video/), watch out; he’s got moves for days (miles?). From sharp marching to an effective side shuffle and something that approaches the sprinkler, it only makes sense that he gets the attention of passengers. He even knows to take a bow at the end of his pre-flight show. His goal, [according to ABC News](http://abc7ny.com/travel/new-york-airport-employee-dances-his-way-into-passengers-hearts/2564315/), is to give at least one passenger “30 seconds of positive vibes.” Looks like Ashford is also a known asset to Southwest: [he has a YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/BruhManTelevision/videos) of videos involving his work in dance-offs, representing the airline against various competitors. He’s been with the airline for five years, outlets [report.](http://www.democratandchronicle.com/videos/news/2017/10/24/-story-behind-kyran-ashfords-tarmac-moves/106967108/) Time for a raise? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/"},"headline":"Exuberant Dancing Airport Employee Will Instantly Make Your Day More Enjoyable","datePublished":"2017-10-25T14:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:48:16.021Z","description":"This New York airport gets a boost from one of the Southwest employees who helps guide planes down the runway with his sharp dance moves.","url":"https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Airlines","viral","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4996738/southwest-tarmac-dance/","name":"Exuberant Dancing Airport Employee Will Instantly Make Your Day More Enjoyable"}}]}] ```