Yesterday was an incredibly sad day for aviation in the United States, with Spirit Airlines ceasing operations. While the outcome was inevitable, that doesn’t make it any easier for the thousands of employees at the company who are now finding themselves without jobs.
No matter how competitive airlines are with one another, the entire industry comes together in difficult times, and here’s the prime example of that…
In this post:
Retiring Spirit captain gets water cannon salute, party
There’s no point in paraphrasing here, so let me just share the story that Southwest Airlines published on its Facebook page yesterday:
Today was supposed to be Capt. Jon Jackson’s retirement flight with Spirit Airlines. After the airline’s sudden shutdown, he found himself heading home as a passenger, seated in the back of a Southwest flight with his son, Chris, a Southwest First Officer.
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.
Beautifully written, Southwest, and well done to all involved who made this so special for the pilot.
Spirit captain makes emotional final announcement
While we’re on the topic of Spirit captains during their final hours working for the company, a video is also circulating online about an announcement made by a Spirit captain who was operating one of the carrier’s last flights. As you can tell, he had nothing but positive things to say, and this can’t help but tug at your heartstrings.
Bottom line
Say what you will about Spirit’s customers, but the company always had a really great culture among employees, and most people working there really seemed to enjoy the company. It’s nice to see these employees getting the respect they deserve.
While I suspect the captain who missed his retirement flight won’t be operating any more commercial aircraft (for obvious reasons), I hope other Spirit employees can find new careers ASAP.
A great story. I think the reason why the airline industry above the business competition is known for working together is because of how global the employees work together. Other industries are similar in this regard but tend to be specific within a city or area.
I feel for this pilot, and all the thousands of workers at Spirit. Bitter sweet for a retirement.
If costs go up, you gotta raise prices to stay in business..... It's as simple as that!! :-o Customers may not like it, but TS they got to accept it, or not fly.
Spirit management F-up big time and their employees are paying for their stupidity!
Great story Ben, thank you.
One note about Spirit. In their over 30 years of flying they did not have one crash or fatalities.
Good to note and record herein. Thank you for that information CB.
NK pilots were excellent aviators and well respected in the aviation community.
As is often the case, pilots can separate themselves from the environment around them and do their job well.
They did a water cannon salute as well!
The camaraderie between workers between airlines is so true. I spent 30 years at one of America’s major airlines in a variety of operations positions. If my carrier was dealing with a particular problem I would call one of my buddies at AA or UA who were in the same role as me, and together we would look for a solution. And if they had a problem, they’d call me. Chances were if one of...
The camaraderie between workers between airlines is so true. I spent 30 years at one of America’s major airlines in a variety of operations positions. If my carrier was dealing with a particular problem I would call one of my buddies at AA or UA who were in the same role as me, and together we would look for a solution. And if they had a problem, they’d call me. Chances were if one of us had a problem, then the others did too or would be shortly. I’ve had a couple carrier changes since retiring from the airline industry, and I have yet to find another industry with such a widespread camaraderie. It’s the one aspect of the career I dearly miss.
As a passenger back in about 1990 (remember Rule 240, anybody?), I recall trying to fly home after a convention from LAS to BDL. Due to an IRROP, my delayed flight was going to miss the connection. At the ticket counter, the kindly agent literally said “Wait here a second”, and proceeded to walk down the line of other airline ticket counters until he found an airline, a flight and a seat. I got home the same day, barely inconvenienced. Impossible to replicate today.
Very nice sentiment. I'm not sure I would have chosen a water cannon salute during a national drought, though.
All credit and respect to those who assisted in making Captain Jon Jackson‘s last day so memorable.
Me he ‘fly’ his retirement arm chair for decades to come.
it was the typical outstanding focus on people that WN does so well.
It also didn't hurt that his son is a WN pilot so was able to provide a heads up.
Here is hoping that Monday morning results in a lot of resumes of former NK employees being given the thumbs up for interviews.
Glad this captain stuck it out to the end. May his retirement be long and fruitful
Well done!
This is very cool. It's a small industry, and even different companies can give the kudos due!