A sweet moment recently occurred on a United Airlines flight when a father and son flew together for the first time as captain and first officer. This sweet moment also offers an important insight into parenting.
A United Airlines Father-Son First: And A Reminder That Passion Can Be Shaped
In a sweet video shared across United’s social media accounts, “United Captain Tom M. waited 30 years for this flight.” What flight might that be? A very special co-pilot onboard: the first officer was his son, Bradley.
It’s a feel-good story and there’s really very little that I can add, but a few thoughts anyway.
Sunday was my first Father’s Day without my father, who passed away last year. And while I was pleased to spend the day with my family, there was an empty seat at the table…oh, how I miss my father. He sang in the choir at church and as I looked up at the choir loft on Sunday morning, I missed him even more.
If your father is still alive, cherish your time with him. These memories of time spent together are far more valuable than you’ll realize until your dad is gone.
Second, I love how Captain Tom pushed Bradley from a very early age to be a pilot. While I try to expose my children to a wide variety of career fields, just like I try to expose them to a wide variety of activities ranging from tennis to basketball to ceramics to piano, my wife and I consider pushing each child into a specific career field.
So often, passion comes over time when we become good at something. Thus, the question is not so much “finding your passion” as it is putting in the time for a “job” to become a “passion.” If we start guiding my daughter, for example, to be a medical doctor, and introduce her in every way we can to that field, direct her studies towards that goal, and constantly support that effort, by the time she’s in her late 20s she will be a doctor…and even as AI threatens vritaully every career field, I cannot see robots fully replacing doctors even in her lifetime.
I mention this because this was Bradley’s path. Perhaps it may not have been as deliberate, but we see so many young pilots today in the skies who come from families of pilots or who, from a very early age, were encouraged and pushed to embrace aviation. The result is a lucrative job with great benefits. Starting pay for a United First Officer is over $115K/year and it grows substantially over time.
CONCLUSION
I think this video is not only a sweet father-son tribute, but a reminder to help our children develop interests and nurture them from a very early age…and sometimes even choose a career for them, knowing that the passion will come later and the comppund interest of earning and saving at a young age will help to promote financial security.
> Read More: The Necessity Of Father-Son Trips
Definitely feel this. Got to cherish those around you before they’re gone.
I decided to move closer to my parents to spend more time with them as my mother was ill at the time and after her passing, I found myself spending a lot more time with my father. These days, I’ve been bringing my father with me on my trips whenever possible.
Boooooring. Bring us more clickbait.
To be fair, Aaron is debating which one he wants to bl#w first.
You’re killing me Dave! Love it.
Aw, we’re all waiting for the 2 of you to get together.
STFU Aaron
What you don’t understand Aaron is that guys can get along without trying to F each other. It’s why sports and sports bars, unknown things to you, are so popular.
Guys like to get together, act immature and laugh at things like YOU. It’s why we insult each other by calling them F#GS and gay. Because it’s an insult but we know they aren’t. It’s the stuff you will never understand. And we are not the minority in the general public, most are with us in thinking you aren’t normal.
@Chi
Make me, you wart on a hippo’s ass.
@Dave
If that is the narrative/lie you and Chi need to tell yourselves, then hey, whatever you need to do to get yourselves through your next gay porn viewing session.
Be careful about pushing your kids in to a career field. I hated the direction my parents pushed me, but I did it anyway. Of course when I graduated and started working in said field, I did terribly. Anybody can pass tests and do well in college. It’s another thing to be passionate and successful. My parents are as supportive of me as anyone in their generation is of their children, but I did much better in my career when I started calling the shots.
I unfortunately had the same experience.
I performed well enough, but the actual work was hell. It took a long time to remember I had other aptitudes, and after about 5 years I was back where I would’ve been had I led a more self-determined life.
I love my parents dearly, but they did not guide me to a future I could live.
Showing your own passions is great. My parents certainly did so. Pushing a child, even if he or she has great aptitude, is incredibly costly if you end up misreading the situation (and likewise incredibly rewarding when the aptitude and genuine interest align).
I thought of your family this father’s day, remembering the loss of my dad and the emptiness that followed. Years later, I still will experience an event that I share with him in my heart. For the kids, opening the world to them is the best guidance.
Hopefully the captain in this instance is willing to take criticism if he’s doing something incorrect.
there are more and more of this types of parent-child pilot relationships and they are good to see.
While it is less likely at airlines, it is as much if not more encouraging to see parents learn from and be motivated by their kids. Sometimes the younger generation can teach older people something.
I disagree with the two posters above. Encourage your daughter AND son to be doctors. One can be an ophthalmologist sub-specializing in cornea and the other sub-specializing in oculoplastics. They can help each other out for life. Or go into ENT, one sub-specializing in otology and the other sub-specializing in rhinology.
It’s not pushing them but guiding them. Then if they decide to be an attorney or commercial airline pilot, that is ok. However, to give them no guidance except “do what you like” is bad. If people did what they liked, they would doing sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
As for the two United pilots, they are sissy. They should say their last name. Only flight attendants tend to hide their names. Professionals, like doctors, attorneys, and commercial airline pilots should not be ashamed to say their last name.
Our boy that put the grifter JT in his place wasn’t afraid to put his last name out there.
Even though he appears to be a pole smokers, he is a hero to many of us for calling the grifter out after his years of bullying airline employees for freebies.
That’s cool af. Sorry about your father. I texted my dad HFD. He replied thank you son. He’s 79 could be a few more months could be 8 years who knows with this guy.
They’re no Dale Earnhardt SR and JR but good story.
Its 2025, how are men still going full bald?