A Spirit Airlines pilot received a hero’s send-off with the help of a rival airline — and his first officer son — as his retirement flight was abruptly cut amid the carrier’s sudden shutdown.
Capt. Jon Jackson was scheduled to fly one last time for Spirit into Baltimore-Washington International on Saturday when the ultra-low-cost airline ceased operations and went out of business in the dead of night.
Jackson, left stranded by the permanent shutdown, hitched a ride with Southwest Airlines in Fort Lauderdale, riding alongside his son, Chris, who is a first officer, according to CNBC.
The doting son used his connections with his co-workers to develop a bittersweet send-off for his retiring father.
“Chris casually mentioned to the flight’s Pilots that this would have been his dad’s retirement flight. They seized the opportunity to change the course of the day for Capt. Jackson,” Southwest wrote on Instagram.
A dispatcher at BWI arranged for firetrucks to greet the plane upon landing, giving Jackson a water cannon salute.
The blue commercial jet passed under the two arching sprays from the airport fire department.
Jackson was showered with applause from a mixture of workers and travelers when he stepped off the plane and into the terminal, according to video shared by Southwest.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jon Jackson,” a gate agent said over the intercom, before handing the former Spirit flyer a bottle of champagne.
“Very overwhelming, I can’t thank you all enough,” Jackson told the applauding crowd. “As Spirit goes down, this is a sad day, and you guys made it incredible. Thank you so much.”
Jackson posed for pictures with his son and the rest of the flight crew before leaving the airport to start his new chapter of life.
“It was a powerful reminder of the aviation community’s ability to show respect, compassion, and solidarity when it matters most,” the airline said.
“Above all, this moment was about honoring a fellow aviator. Congratulations, and thank you for your service in the skies, Capt. Jackson,” the statement added/
Spirit’s late-night closure stranded thousands of passengers across 277 cancelled flights on Saturday.
Company officials at the nation’s eighth-largest airline – which employed more than 17,000 staffers and operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes – announced they were shutting operations “effective immediately” after failing to secure a $500 million bailout from the federal government.
All other future flights have also been cancelled, including 379 flights originally scheduled for Sunday.
“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” the company said in a statement Saturday morning.
The sudden collapse of Spirit left some passengers fuming over their upended travel plans, as other airlines offered to assist the stranded flyers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had announced Saturday that the administration had initiated a program to help the abandoned Spirit passengers.
“We’ve activated our airline partners to ensure passengers are not stranded, communities maintain route access, fares do not skyrocket, and Spirit’s workforce is connected to new job opportunities,” Duffy said.
United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and Southwest all capped their prices for the Spirit passengers looking to get to their destinations aboard a new airline.
Duffy applauded the joint efforts of the competing airlines, noting it was the industry “stepping up.”
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