A little bit goes a long, long way

On a flight to Washington, DC, earlier this summer, Clara, who talks to everyone, mentioned to the flight attendant as we were boarding that Charlie loves aviation and hopes to be a pilot someday.

Less than a minute later, Charlie was sitting in the copilot’s seat, talking to the pilot.

A month later, during our West Coast trip, Clara made the same announcement to another flight attendant, and once again, Charlie found himself in the cockpit. By the time we had returned home, Charlie had spent time in a total of three cockpits, including a chance to sit in the pilot’s seat and assist with a pre-flight task.

It’s not often that you take your child to our nation’s capital and cross country, and one of the highlights is a few moments in our method of transport.

Many thanks to the pilots, co-pilots, and flight attendants who took a few moments to make a boy’s dream come true.

It was a great example of how small efforts – nearly inconsequential efforts – can make a customer very happy and create a story for them to tell again and again.

Thank you, Delta Airlines and Alaskan Airlines, for making memories for Charlie that will last a lifetime.