SEARCH FOR HIS REPLACEMENT IN JANUARY. WE FIRST BROUGHT YOU THIS STORY LAST WEEK. BAD WEATHER, DIVERTING A FLIGHT HEADING TO MIDLAND, TEXAS, STRANDING PASSENGERS IN ROSWELL. THIS HAPPENING THE WEEK OF THANKSGIVING. AND THAT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHT FULL OF CHALLENGES SOME PASSENGERS URGENTLY NEEDED TO GET TO LUBBOCK, AND THAT’S WHEN THE MAYOR STEPPED IN. DRIVING THOSE PEOPLE 2.5 HOURS TO GET THERE. AND I TOLD THE GENTLEMAN THE MAYOR WAS COMING TO TAKE HIM TO LUBBOCK TO GET HELP. AND I SAID, THE MAYOR IN THEIR SHOCK, AND THEY JUST LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, SAID, THE MAYOR IS GOING TO TAKE US. ABSOLUTELY. BUT I GOTTA TELL YOU, ROSWELL’S A FRIENDLY TOWN. THE PEOPLE HERE ARE GREAT. THE WELCOME MAT OPEN FOR WHETHER IT’S VISITORS OR BUSINESS, WHATEVER. AND THIS IS HOW WE OPERATE. ONE WOMAN GETTING BACK TO LUBBOCK SO SHE COULD BE THERE FOR HER DAUGHTER I
Roswell mayor drives stranded passengers to Lubbock during Thanksgiving week

Updated: 8:40 AM MST Dec 18, 2025
During the week of Thanksgiving, bad weather diverted a flight heading to Midland, Texas, leaving passengers stranded in Roswell, New Mexico, where the mayor stepped in to drive some of them to Lubbock.”I told them that the mayor was going to drive them to Lubbock, and they said, ‘Who?’ And I said the mayor, and they’re just in shock, saying, ‘The mayor’s going to take us?!’ And I said absolutely,” said Bobbi Thompson.”I gotta tell you, Roswell is just a kind place. The people here are great, the welcome mats for businesses or visitors or whatever, and this is just how we operate,” Thompson said.One woman was able to return to Lubbock in time to be with her daughter, who was in active labor, and meet her granddaughter for the first time.
ROSWELL, N.M. —
During the week of Thanksgiving, bad weather diverted a flight heading to Midland, Texas, leaving passengers stranded in Roswell, New Mexico, where the mayor stepped in to drive some of them to Lubbock.
“I told them that the mayor was going to drive them to Lubbock, and they said, ‘Who?’ And I said the mayor, and they’re just in shock, saying, ‘The mayor’s going to take us?!’ And I said absolutely,” said Bobbi Thompson.
“I gotta tell you, Roswell is just a kind place. The people here are great, the welcome mats for businesses or visitors or whatever, and this is just how we operate,” Thompson said.
One woman was able to return to Lubbock in time to be with her daughter, who was in active labor, and meet her granddaughter for the first time.