They are all airline pilots: mother, daughter and son. And they fulfilled the dream of flying together for the same company, in the same cockpit.
This might sound like the synopsis of a heartbreaking movie, but it really happened for the Garrett family in 2022.
Suzy Garret and her daughter Donna went viral two years ago, when they posted the picture of both together in their first flight as a team.
At the time, they shared more details of the experience with CNN Travel, and Suzy pointed out that the next dream was to have her son join them in the cockpit.
Mark Garret was already a pilot by then, but his debut at SkyWest, the same airline where his mother and his sister work, was delayed by the pandemic.
However, the dream came true last January, with Donna and Mark as pilots, and Suzy at the jumpseat.
“It was easily the most fun I’ve had on a trip at SkyWest!” says Mark in a post on the SkyWest Blog.
“Flying with my sister at SkyWest felt really comfortable”, he says. “Having my mom in the jumpseat was the cherry on top”.
Flying in family
Suzy has been a pilot at SkyWest since 1989. Her husband is also a pilot, and it was their passion for aviation that motivated their daughter and son to follow the same steps.
For Donna, it is an even bigger inspiration, given that women pilots are still a minority in aviation. “I didn’t realise how much of a pioneer in this field my mom was until pretty recently”, she told in an interview to CNN Travel.
Besides that, she also commented on how good it is to have someone you know so well as your captain. “I’ve never had the opportunity to fly with a captain that’s that experienced, and then having her as my mom, we have such a great foundation of communication as it is, just working from there with our dynamic”, she said.
Certainly this mother is very proud of her legacy, right? Their hope is that their story as a family can motivate other young people to pursue their dream of becoming pilots.
Photo source: Donna, Mark and Suzy Garret – Personal Archive
