Southwest Airlines Pilot Was Due for His Last Flight. The Pre-Flight Speech Made the Internet Bawl: ‘Thank You for Everything You’ve Taught Me.’

Every plane has to come down eventually. Captain Jim Curtis from Southwest Airlines was due for his final flight at 65 years old. But before the plane took off, someone special took the mic and gave a send-off speech that left the internet in tears.

“This is a very special flight today,” said his First Officer, Julia. She explained that in the airline industry, pilots are mandated to retire at the age of 65. At the time of her speech, Jim was set to retire and take his final flight as a Southwest Airlines pilot.

“Captain Curtis, he’s been flying for 43 years. He spent 21 years serving in the AirForce, and he’s been at Southwest for over 22 years now. Over the course of his career, he has over 18,000 hours of flight time,” Julia explained. This was a man who has lived many hours of his life in the skies. While some passengers were cheering and impressed, Julia went on to thank the man for so much more.

“I’m really honored to be his First Officer today, because Captain Curtis has been a mentor for me my entire life. He inspired me to be a pilot!” She revealed.

They serve onions at Southwest Airlines

“On top of becoming a pilot, he also helped teach me how to walk, how to talk, how to ride a bike, how to throw a baseball, how to drive a car, and probably, most importantly, he taught me how to carry myself with humility, kindness, and integrity, both in and out of work. Because Captain Curtis is also my dad,” Julia said in what appears to be both a final flight reminder and a Father’s Day tribute.

“Getting to fly with him is a dream come true and is something that we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives. It’s really an honor,” she said in the tribute. Julia continued to praise and thank Jim.

“My entire life, he has been the first one to tell me how proud he is of me and my siblings. And today, we get to express how proud we are of him.” She turned to him.

“Dad, congratulations! It’s an incredible career. Thank you for everything you taught me,” she said. Funnily enough, Julia didn’t break into tears and managed to crack a joke.

“It’s really scary to fly with an old guy, but he knows the way really well!” She said, earning the laughter of the passengers. Julia welcomed everyone aboard, but Jim wasn’t ready to fly just yet. Apparently, he had a matter to settle with his First Officer that needed the vote of the passengers.

A dad will always be a dad

“We’ve flown together for the whole month, and we’ve had a disagreement from day one,” Jim said. It seemed like a serious matter at first.

“Honestly, I cannot take off until we solve this. She’s been working at Southwest Airlines now for approximately four months. She has a full-time job, and she’s still on my phone plan!” Jim explained. In a desperate attempt to get his daughter to pay her own phone bills, he asked the passengers for a vote.

“Who thinks she should be off of my phone plan?! Please help me!” Jim was not met with enthusiasm and was booed instead. It’s all a fun bit, however, and the senior pilot relented.

“She’s been on it for life, I guess,” Jim said. He then thanked Southwest Airlines and its passengers for the heartwarming send-off.

The Southwest Airlines clip went viral on social media, with many commenters in tears. One comment from the official Facebook account reads, “We’re experiencing some emotional turbulence.”

A commenter on TikTok said, “Jokes on you I planned on crying today.”

Someone else wrote, “How come this video got blurry??”

But other commenters also hopped on Jim’s joke, saying that he should keep paying for his daughter’s phone plan. Although this is Jim’s final flight as a Southwest Airlines pilot, he still has a lifetime to be a dad.

(featured images: Southwest Airlines)

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