Spirit Shut Down The Day A Retiring Pilot Was Supposed To Take His Final Flight, So Another Airline Stepped In
YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV | ShutterstockEveryone is familiar with the news that Spirit Airlines was forced to shut down over the weekend after facing mounting financial difficulties. Most of the related news coverage has focused on the impact on passengers, but the airline also had plenty of employees scrambling to figure out their next moves.
One Spirit pilot didn’t find himself in the absolute worst situation since he was already retiring, but what should have been a big moment to celebrate his final flight was snatched away from him by the airline’s demise. Luckily for him, another airline was willing to step in and do what they could to make sure his career ended on the highlight he deserved.
Southwest Airlines created a special send-off for the retiring Spirit pilot.
In a post shared across Southwest’s social media, they told the story of Captain Jon Jackson, who was slated to take his retirement flight as a Spirit Airlines pilot on the day the company shut down. Instead of having a memorable moment piloting a commercial airplane for the last time, Jackson traveled home on a Southwest flight with his son, Chris, who is actually a Southwest First Officer.
Chris told the Southwest pilots about his dad, not expecting anything, but they quickly jumped into action. According to the airline, “The Baltimore Airport Fire and 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 [a] bottle of bubbly.”
The post included a video of the moment Jackson stepped off the plane. The crew at the gate erupted into applause and began chanting, “Speech!” Jackson obliged, saying he felt “overwhelmed.”
“I can’t thank you all enough,” he added. “As Spirit goes down, it’s a sad day, and you guys made it incredible, so thank you so much.”
Jackson remained pretty stoic, but his son later revealed just how much that moment meant to him.
Chris posted photos of his dad absolutely beaming as he got off the Southwest flight, along with a heartfelt caption. “When we jumped on Southwest to come home, we casually mentioned it to the crew, and they turned it into a full-on retirement flight, complete with water cannons and a welcome party!” he explained. “Just when it seemed like everything fell apart, SWA stepped in to put it all back together.”
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He also had a sweet message for his dad. “Congratulations on your retirement, Dad!” he said. “I’m so excited to see you have fun and do all the things you wanna do! I know you’ll still be flying all kinds of small airplanes, but it definitely won’t be the same as seeing you in the flight deck of an airliner.”
Chris ended his post by thanking his dad for “teaching me virtually everything I know about flying” and being the reason he decided to pursue a career as a pilot himself. Jackson must be feeling pretty grateful for his son’s job and connections right now, too.
A lot of people have to determine their next steps now, but this act of kindness showed that there’s always a reason to be hopeful.
Spirit announced that 17,000 employees lost their jobs because of the airline’s sudden shutdown. Thankfully, this isn’t really a problem for Captain Jackson, since he was retiring anyway. But plenty of other people are now trying to figure out how they’ll keep supporting themselves and their families.
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Jason Ambrosi, international president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement, “The pain of this decision will not be felt in boardrooms. It will be felt by pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, and ground crews, and by the families and communities that depend on them.”
Southwest’s move to honor Jackson obviously didn’t solve all of the problems created by Spirit’s collapse, but it did serve as a beautiful reminder of the way that we can all do our part to show up for people who are hurting.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
