Michelle Hannah Potts, a passenger who filmed the incident, said in a Facebook post: “Get to the airport and our flight is delayed a couple of hours... then I happen to look at the original time and it changed to gate closing!”“Get to boarding and asked the guy at the desk what's going on he said 'oh your pilot's gone missing but a guy that's going on your flight is going to fly the plane!“Probably would of been cancelled if it wasn't for him! Legend!”The original pilot was on standby, and had to make his way from Liverpool to Manchester, thus delaying the flight.A spokesperson for EasyJet told the Manchester Evening News the flight's delay was due to the knock-on effects of an air traffic control failure in France over the weekend, meaning the airline was forced to rely on standby cabin crew.They said: "We are grateful to one of our pilots who was travelling on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on September 2 with his family and volunteered to operate the flight."This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew.“This is fully in line with regulations as he had his licence and ID with him. "Safety is always our highest priority.