Captain's Last Flight

Any day I learn something new is a good day. Any day that I experience something while traveling that the more experienced road warriors haven't is a great day! (Well, not scary experiences.)

I was flying from Phoenix to Houston and, while waiting in the lounge at Sky Harbor, overheard a conversation. One of the people was the brother of our pilot who said that there was a group of family getting on board to celebrate his brother's last flight before retirement.

Apparently, this is a pretty big deal. The agents at the gate announced it. The purser on board announced it and also gave a bio of the Captain, Rob Wilson, over the loudspeaker. A short while before we landed, the purser handed out copies of an official looking memo in celebration of the event. I wish I had taken one but I wanted to make sure all of the family got a copy.

But, that wasn't the end of it. As we taxied to the gate, the plane was subject to a water salute while another announcement was made thanking the Captain for his 30 years of service with Continental and United. I managed to get some pics from my seat.






The final celebration on board consisted of all the passengers giving their verbal congratulations as they exited the plane.

It was neat and gave me ideas for our next retirement party. But, I don't know that two garden hoses in the employee parking lot would be quite as momentous.

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