Southwest Airlines Throws Retirement Party For A Spirit Airlines Pilot

A Spirit pilot named Jon Jackson was supposed to have his final, “retirement flight” on Saturday, but...

Southwest Airlines Throws Retirement Party For A Spirit Airlines Pilot

A Spirit pilot named Jon Jackson was supposed to have his final, “retirement flight” on Saturday, but the airline shut down hours before. HE MISSED IT BY A DAY. So he flew back home on Southwest as a passenger and Southwest set it up so that he got a mini-retirement party with their staff at the arrival gate.

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He was seated in the back of a Southwest flight with his son, Chris, a Southwest First Officer.

Well, Chris casually mentioned to the pilots on the flight that this would have been his dad’s retirement flight, and they understood the assignment. They called Dylan, a Southwest Dispatcher, who started the ball rolling to throw together a proper retirement party when the flight landed in Baltimore. The Baltimore Airport Fire & Rescue was there with a traditional water cannon salute, and the Baltimore Ground Operations Team greeted him at the gate with champagne!