I Met Him When He Came to the Flightdeck Wanting to Be a Southwest Pilot

I first met Matt in 2017. He was 18 and a passenger on our flight from Baltimore to Tampa, by way of Birmingham, headed to watch spring training with his dad. He was a true Southwest enthusiast; he’d talked his father into booking the flight with a stop instead of the nonstop so he could get two landings in the back of a 737.

During our stop in Birmingham, he came up to the flight deck and asked all the right questions. He was working on his private pilot license, he wanted to fly for Southwest, and he wanted to know exactly what it would take to get here.

The funny part of the story: after we took the obligatory photo and he left the flight deck, I heard his dad say, “Go back up and get the pilot’s number!”

I’m glad he did!

We kept in touch the whole time he was earning his ratings and building his hours, and through all of it his focus never wavered: what does he need to do to get here?

Nearly a decade and many conversations later, here he is! I’m proud that I got to fly with him just a couple of months into the job, while he’s still on probation. I’ve vouched for him all these years, and I was especially happy to find out firsthand that he really is a great guy and a fantastic pilot.