Son, who is Co-pilot Honors His Dad’s 30 Year Retirement with Jokes

Tom Schmidt retired after 33 years of flying recently and his son, Matt, honored him in the days leading up to his last flight by joining him as his Co-Pilot during his last week with non-stop jokes. Captain Tom was a former Check Pilot, Assistant Chief Pilot, and Captain and his son is no stranger to flying as Captain Tom would regularly bring Matt to ride along on his trips as a Southwest Pilot inspiring him to become a Pilot himself at Southwest. Matt is known to line up his schedule for holidays such as Father’s Day so he can fly with his Dad and he made sure to celebrate his Dad on several of his last trips as he prepared for his retirement including his very last landing with Southwest Airlines.

Southwest is known for its legendary Culture and we loved seeing Captain Tom and his son/Co-Pilot having a good time as they celebrated the last week of flying together. We wish Captain Tom a very happy retirement and just like the Employees in the gate area of his last flight, we’re cheering him on in his future adventures.