It’s rare that pilots make an impression on passengers, since they don’t interact much with those on the other side of the cockpit door. Heck, the absence of anything eventful or memorable usually means pilots did a good job. However, yesterday I had an American Airlines captain who was memorable on a couple of levels…
In this post:
An awesome Miami-based American Airlines captain
Yesterday morning I flew from Boston (BOS) to Miami (MIA) on American Airlines, on an Airbus A321neo (it was actually one of the former Alaska Airlines jets).
Upon boarding, the (female) captain was standing at the door to greet each passenger with a big smile, which was of course nice to see, since I find that to be pretty rare nowadays.
I was in Main Cabin Extra on this flight, but as boarding finished up, I saw her standing at the front of the first class cabin, to give passengers seated there a special welcome onboard, and thank them for their business. It has been years since I’ve seen an American captain do something like that, so I thought that was a really nice touch.
She then made her welcome onboard announcement for the entire cabin, which was once again super friendly, and also kind of hilarious. “We’re Miami based and this is our last segment of the trip, so we’re gonna fly it like we stole it, and hope to get you there a few minutes early.”
But here’s the most interesting detail — she explained that her co-pilot was actually her husband. At first I wondered if I misunderstood that, but sure enough, when the flight attendants announced the name of the crew, the captain and first officer had the same last name.
Suffice it to say that this captain left an impression, not only for her friendliness, but for her first officer also being her husband. I would’ve loved to ask her some questions, but didn’t have the chance, as they darted off the plane after landing (I can’t blame them!). As they exited the plane, the captain said to the lead flight attendant “thanks for taking such great care of us, hope to fly with you again soon.” As you can tell, she was a class act all around.
That must be an interesting cockpit dynamic
I can’t help but be curious about the logistics of scheduling for this couple, and also what the dynamics in the cockpit are like.
American Airlines has over 15,000 pilots, so for most pilots, it’s standard to be paired with different colleagues on every trip, and maybe never fly with them again (especially as pilots switch aircraft and positions over the years).
Pilots can bid on their schedules, so I wonder if I just ended up on one of the few trips where they are paired together, or if they make a point of always flying together when possible. I suppose it could be that they’re both high seniority A320-family pilots (the wife as captain, and husband as first officer), and therefore they usually get the schedules that they bid on. They might sacrifice a bit of money to be able to work together.
For many pilots, one of the hardest parts of the job is constantly being away from home, and away from your spouse. So it’s a totally different game when you can instead constantly travel with your spouse.
At the same time, I can’t help but be curious about the dynamics in the cockpit when a couple is flying together. Generally working with your spouse isn’t a great idea in terms of preserving a relationship, though I imagine they have it figured out.
Every so often an airline will highlight some cool pilot pairings, like a parent flying as captain while their child is a first officer, or siblings flying together. However, I’ve never knowingly flown with a husband and wife duo, so I thought that was pretty cool.
Bottom line
I had an awesome American Airlines captain yesterday, who greeted each passenger upon boarding, gave the first class cabin a special welcome aboard, and had a generally friendly and engaging welcome aboard announcement. The coolest part, though, was that her husband was the first officer on the flight.
It’s not every day you see that, so I can’t help but share, and wonder if anyone has experienced something similar.
Has anyone flown with this American Airlines husband & wife duo before? Or are there multiple out there?
I would argue that there's a slight enhancement to safety when two people who know one another work as co-pilots.
Communication skills in a couple can be excellent or they can be terrible - I'm sure we've all seen both. But what a couple in a work relationship has over two individuals is the knowledge of one each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Most crew members work at airlines to get away from their families. This story gives me anxiety
First, I would say they probably internally keep their personal life outside of the workplace for the safety of themselves and the passengers. Interesting in the comments the different duo situations people have experienced. Second, captian to greet passengers and that's a positive point. No, it should be done - service.
I have flown with both of them at a different airline and I will say they are both class acts and are very professional and excellent pilots.
You needn't worry about the dynamics of the cockpit, which by the way, is now referred to as a flight deck.
Your article is so nice until you start 'wondering' about what isn't your business, quite frankly.
I know both of these pilots personally. They ARE both stand-up, class acts.
And to sully a great piece of positivity with your musings about whether it is a good idea for a couple to fly......
You needn't worry about the dynamics of the cockpit, which by the way, is now referred to as a flight deck.
Your article is so nice until you start 'wondering' about what isn't your business, quite frankly.
I know both of these pilots personally. They ARE both stand-up, class acts.
And to sully a great piece of positivity with your musings about whether it is a good idea for a couple to fly... Well, I was curious as to why you would be writing a positive piece on AA, anyway. The end of your piece answered that question.
It works for them. If you cannot have a healthy relationship with your spouse, don't project that sad state on them.
They are amazing people. Amazing pilots.
Leave it at that.
Flew with my son as my copilot (and wife and daughter in the cabin) on my retirement flight. One of the most memorable things I've ever done in my life.
I have worked with both of these pilots before they were married (at their former employer) and I can attest that they are both amazing! I can only imagine what a dynamic duo they are working together!
My cousin - the pilot - AMAZING HUMAN! I was so happy to read this post!
Wow, this made me smile, and laugh and feel proud all at the same moment. Sorry we missed you off the flight the other day but feel free to reach out and Alan and I will be happy answer any questions! Getting home is sometimes a rush. We always fly together, yes he selflessly sacrifices pay so that we can fly together, it's the best job we've never had. It's like vacation on what can...
Wow, this made me smile, and laugh and feel proud all at the same moment. Sorry we missed you off the flight the other day but feel free to reach out and Alan and I will be happy answer any questions! Getting home is sometimes a rush. We always fly together, yes he selflessly sacrifices pay so that we can fly together, it's the best job we've never had. It's like vacation on what can be a lonely job. We never fight but if we disagree it's always treated as any pilot/copilot interaction, with respect.
Thank you for the kind words and please come fly with us again. We love our job and this made my day. Capt Gregory
Very well deserved Kale! You and Alan are amazing pilots and amazing friends ❤️
About pilots greeting passengers:
On Aug 5 is was in first from BOS to EWR. We were delayed because crew time out. Pilot came out and thanked us for flying UA versus a lesser airline, he was very confident flying this plane and not be concerned about flying on Boeing jet as he wasn’t. It sounds cocky as I write this, but he wasn’t cocky at all, very experienced.
I once sat with a older guy whose son was in the left chair. I said you must be very proud. He replied that I'd never seen his son drive.
Few months back I was on a flight with a Father / Daughter duo Pilots.
@captscott737 on Instagram (Scott Shankland, his full name is in his profile) flies with his wife @pilotjenn737.
@flyingfahans were married pilots on Delta - they flew the A330 but retired during COVID and I believe she is now with Breeze.
Why do people question their relationship dynamics.
It's called being professionals.
They can separate work and private life, good for them.
No rocket science to assume that those who say so can't be professionals, yet they act like they are.
I think I flew with them a few weeks ago (unless AA has multiple husband/wife duos flying A321 jets lol)! Super cool!
Was it this couple from "Come Fly With Me"??
https://youtu.be/RW39LEQ-aUA
sweet
I think this is a perfect example of the collapse of respect of the institution of marriage. Once people respected that the marital relationship trumped everything and that the idea that a married couple could leave their marital relationship at the door, changing it from one of negotiation to one of command, would have been inconceivable.
are you on drugs or
Remind me not to marry you.
Holy Smokes! Did you just teleport in from the 1950s? Neato!
She might even be a childless cat lady...
More power to them. Sounds like a great relationship.
Haven't seen a (somewhat) wholesome story on OMAAT in a while...
I don't know where this sort of thing came from. Having one family member be subordinate in the chain of command to another historically was one of those "never" things.
Wait - I thought there was a fairly established view that having the people in the cockpit NOT know eachother helped ensure that there was the appropriate dynamic when it came to challenging eachother.
Is that no longer the case? I would trade in the 'cuteness' of a related couple for a pair of pilots who are less likely to skip formalities in a heartbeat.
Wondering if they flip a coin to decide which one drives home?
I loved the friction of the husband and wife pilot couple Simon and Jackie on "Come Fly with Me."
After finding out that Simon had an affair with one of the stewardesses, Jackie, a dental hygenist, spent five years retraining as a pilot so that she could accompany Simon at work on all of his flights. The paranoia, hostility, and passive aggressiveness between the duo makes for good tv.
cringy, but funny....
One can only hope they don't get into a domestic dispute while at 38,000 feet...
LoL
There have been many examples of unrelated pilots and co-pilots getting into disputes too.