Growing up, I always loved the airport, as many kids do, but for reasons other than the blatantly obvious truth that I was likely going on vacation. The exciting part wasn’t the destination, but rather the thought that maybe one of my parents was flying the plane I was getting on. This made the airport-going experience far more exciting, as it was always coupled with the possibility of seeing one of my parents in their natural work habitat. It’s always thrilling to see a parent in their role in the outside world, a stark and shocking reminder that they are their own person outside of your limited perspective of them as a mother or father at home. For me, this was seeing them in the cockpit of a United airplane.
Having parents who work for an airline has absolutely shaped my view of travel in a unique way. I see a 5-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles as a quick trip, and I have gone to school on multiple occasions straight from a red-eye. Although I will never forget what a luxury air travel is, it comes as a more casual experience in my family, as my parents find themselves at the airport 15 days a month. Growing up, this meant one parent worked 15 days a month, while the other worked the other 15 days, and when I was young, I was no stranger to au pairs. I crown my parents angels for working international flights, landing at 3 pm, and still making it home in time to cook dinner and put my siblings and me to bed. When I was young, it seemed like a regular day to me, but now that I stand at the precipice of a career, I cannot fathom the energy this daily routine took – riddle me impressed.
Never Short of a Story or Restaurant Recommendation
My parents are never short of exciting stories at dinner parties and family gatherings, and I still hear new travel stories 20 years later. From sleeping on a snowed-in airplane to searching Rome with their crew for wine made by monks, my parents have lived many lives and bear many stories, and I consider myself lucky to live vicariously through them. They are never short of restaurant recommendations across Istanbul, London, and Rome, and I love hearing about which hotel “used to be the crew hotel” back when they flew international trips.
Some of my favorite memories are from trips I’ve gone on with my parents while they were working. In 2021, I flew with my dad on a three-day trip to Barcelona. With the aftermath of COVID still heavily affecting travel, I was lucky to get a First Class sleeper seat and endless snacks on the flights there and back while my dad was up in the cockpit. This also meant I was included on the crew bus to the hotel and back – it’s always a joy to chat with the other FOs (Flight Officers) and Flight Attendants and hear their war stories. I find that the crews are often the most interesting part of flights, and I cherish the chance to chat with them whenever I get it.
Although I only spent 24 hours in Barcelona, the trip as a whole revived my love of travel and my pride in my parents. It’s easy to forget just how much skill and effort their everyday job requires. This summer, I had the joy of seeing my mom at the airport twice while she was on her way to the gate, getting to wave to her in the cockpit as she taxied her plane.
Slightly More Nerve-Wracking Flights
The extraneous benefits of having parents work for airlines have made my summers far more interesting the past couple of years, and my journeys home from school all the more hellish. Stand-by is an idea that you list yourself on a flight, and pray to the gods that there are seats open. Essentially, you are ranked on a list among other employees or employee family members also standing by on the flight, and you are allocated available seats once boarding ticketed passengers is complete. If there are open seats and you’re at the top of the list, you’ll likely get a seat. The list is ranked based on who you are (i.e., you are ranked higher if you’re the employee yourself rather than a family member) and your hire date. I consider myself lucky that my parents have been working for United since 1995, as only a handful, i.e., hundreds as opposed to thousands, of pilots have an earlier hire date. Although this option is cheaper (I have been lucky to fly to Miami twice for free this past summer), it also comes with the risk that you don’t get on the flight, which happens a good part of the time. It’s a game of chance and luck, and occasionally wishing someone missed their flight – I’m guilty of this despite believing it brings bad travel karma!
Airports are More Than Just a Building
I can confidently say it never grows old going to the airport with my parents in uniform, and watching my mom fistbump the gate agents and banter with the TSA agents (when they’re feeling chatty, that is). It serves as a reminder that the airport and its many workers are a community in itself. While we only interact with them every so often, they’re the everyday faces behind the thousands of successful flights a day, and my mom never fails to remind me of their humanity – just one of the many lessons I’ve learned from my pilot parents! Another important lesson I’ve learned is how important flight attendants are to the success of flights. While the pilots are flying the plane, the flight attendants take the brunt of the work, having to interact with hundreds of often unpleasant passengers. Bringing the crew a box of cookies or snacks is almost always positively welcomed, and makes the flight experience better for everyone involved!
My Mother – Captain Sanderson
One of the most important takeaways from my parents’ careers is the quiet but unwavering belief that I will be successful in any path I pursue, regardless of my gender. Growing up, I never saw anything unusual about my mom being a pilot—it was simply who she was.
The uniform, the early mornings, the stories from the cockpit all felt ordinary to me. Yet almost every story she shared involved working alongside a male first officer, rarely another woman. Learning that female pilots make up only about 5 to 6% of the global pilot workforce put my mother’s daily experiences into perspective. Every story she shared began to carry more weight; her role as a Captain was something not only she, but women everywhere, could be proud of. Growing up, she consistently emphasized the importance of holding her own—of learning to speak with confidence, trusting her competence, and refusing to be told otherwise by men in rooms where she might be outnumbered. I strive to carry that same mindset: to enter the room with assurance in my abilities and the belief that I belong there just as much as anyone else.
My mom once shared a story of when she told her father, who was also a pilot, that she wanted to be a flight attendant when she grew up. ‘Just be the pilot,’ he responded. And if you take anything away from this article, let it be that.
Beyond the inspiration they’ve given me, the joy and knowledge of airplanes have truly seeped into my siblings and me. One of my favorite memories from high school was sitting on my front lawn alongside my brother, home from college for the summer, playing a guessing game of where the plane overhead was coming from and what type of plane it was. With the help of our favorite radar app, Flightradar24, we would spend hours impressed when the other got it right.
While I still enjoy this game immensely, and look forward to the times of scanning the summer sky for planes, I now find myself at a disadvantage playing against my brother, who is in flight training to be a pilot for the Navy – he simply couldn’t say no to the family calling. Serious and silly, I have learned so much from my parents and their careers, and I am proud to experience the world under their wings. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find myself working alongside my parents in the cockpit.