Uniformed solidarity

Jon Jackson got one heck of a send-off – from an unlikely source.

Nothing to do with the government or military today, other than whether Captain Johnson was military (given he is a senior pilot – most probable at his age  but nothing specifically says that.) What is confirmed that he was a senior pilot with Spirit Airlines, which just shut down ONE DAY before his retirement.  In one sense, he got an extra day of retirement – but generally a retirement day for a pilot is a bit of a big deal. Friday Spirit announced their closure, so instead of said big deal Saturday, Johnson wound up flying as a passenger on a Southwest flight back to Baltimore (coincidentally along with his son, a right-seater (First Officer) with Southwest.)

To paraphrase Mr. MacArthur, seemingly this ‘old pilot’ would just fade away, right? But his son happened to mention to someone in the crew that it would have been his Dad’s last flight – and then things get pretty cool.

The pilots, with help from a dispatcher, arranged a surprise tribute upon arrival in Baltimore. Southwest described the gesture, which included a water cannon salute, champagne, and applause, as a powerful reminder of the aviation community’s solidarity.MSN

Southwest noted in its Facebook post that the crew threw together a “proper retirement party,” which included the Baltimore Airport Fire & Rescue meeting the aircraft with a traditional water cannon salute.

In addition to the warm welcome, the staff at the Baltimore airport greeted Jackson with a bottle of champagne to celebrate his milestone. The Independent

From Southwest’s own Facebook page:

Chris casually mentioned to the flight’s Pilots that this would have been his dad’s retirement flight. They seized the opportunity to change the course of the day for Capt. Jackson. They alerted Dylan, a Southwest Dispatcher, setting into motion a plan that resulted in a proper retirement party when the flight landed in Baltimore. The Baltimore Airport Fire & Rescue met the aircraft with a traditional water cannon salute, and the Baltimore Ground Operations Team was waiting at the gate to welcome him with cheers and bottle of bubbly.

It was a powerful reminder of the aviation community’s ability to show respect, compassion, and solidarity when it matters most. Above all, this moment was about honoring a fellow aviator. Congratulations, and thank you for your service in the skies, Capt. Jackson. OneMileAtATime

I know many pilots, especially older pilots, are ex-military, but the industry camaraderie seems to be aviation-industry wide, too. Maybe born of the heavy military influence? but they do seem to respect and take care of their own like few civilian industries do. I recall a wake I went to once where there were ex-Vietnam POW pilots, older 70s-80s industry pilots, and new pilots all intermixed, to honor a Vietnam “Naval aviator from the Marine Corps” mustang pilot – the groups were intermingled, their arms doing that pilot “and then I did this, and then that” arm waves – three generations of different eras – but all pilots. An amazing experience.  Seems that spirit is still alive and well at Southwest and in the industry today.

Hope the rest of your retirement goes as well as the first day, Captain Johnson.

Category: Society