A pilot for Southwest Airlines says that a woman on one of his recent flights regretted a major life decision after her husband asked him a few questions.
Pilot Byrd (@wyldebyrd) says he flew a Southwest flight into Denver, Colorado, recently. The ride was particularly turbulent, he notes in a TikTok about the experience.
“Just landed in Denver, super bumpy. A husband and wife came up, asked me about the flight,” he says.
According to Byrd, the husband asked him how he handles turbulence.
“That’s pretty rough,” Byrd says he responded. “I just gave him the skinny and you know, you’re just prepared, you’re strong, you think ahead.”
Then the wife looked from him to her husband. He could see her entire life flashing by in her eyes, Byrd claims.
“You could just tell by the look on her face: she should’ve married a pilot,” he concludes semi-jokingly.
Does a pilot make a good spouse?
Divorce has become a fixture of American life. Roughly half of all marriages ultimately crumble and end in court filings, legal bills, and broken hearts.
While each marriage is different and so is every person, there are trends when it comes to divorce, including in what job spouses hold.
In 2020, the Telegraph reported on a survey that used United States Census Bureau data to figure out which careers have higher or lower divorce rates.
According to the study, some jobs with the highest divorce rates include: military supervisors, chemical technicians, clerical library assistants, carpenters, and tax examiners.
Pilots did not make the list of the highest divorce rates.
Before you go looking for a partner with wings pinned to their uniform, take note that they’re also not on the list of the careers with the lowest divorce rates, however.
Some jobs that purportedly have the lowest divorce rates, per the Telegraph, are: religious workers, dentists, special education teachers, and mechanical engineers.
‘Multi-tasking compartmentalizers’
Byrd’s post stirred up plenty of commentary. Much of it focused on the front end of his TikTok, where he noted the flight into Denver had been turbulent.
“I live in Denver and every single time coming home I have to prepare for life,” wrote one.
Many of the comments delved into his tongue-in-cheek claim that the woman from his flight realized she should’ve married a pilot. Reactions spanned the gamut.
One person described pilots as “multi-tasking compartmentalizers.” They added of the husband from the flight, “You know he’ll never say anything like that again.”
Another said, “Never marry the pilot.” On the other side of the pilot-as-potential-spouse debate, one wrote, “I want to marry a pilot.”
Still another wondered if Byrd himself is single. He responded, “Married 17 years.”
@wyldebyrd There are those who can and then those who … #pilot ♬ original sound – Wyldebyrd
‘Being a pilot is like being a farmer’
In a direct message to the Mary Sue, Byrd says his wife “teasingly rolls her eyes” at his ability and confidence.
“It is a humble brag backed up with years of hard work and commitment,” he says. “Being a pilot is like being a farmer, an oil worker, or a commercial fisherman. These are hard jobs that no one sees the hard work in the years of learning. However, performance is essential to the task.”
He says his wife, being a stay-at-home mom to his two boys, gives them flexibility and makes them a “tight-knit family.”
“For long-term love, find people who have integrity in everything they do and commitment to what they love in life,” he advises. “Sometimes success isn’t defined easily. Finding joy in the process and sharing in each other’s success builds trust and appreciation. It exaggerates the nature of a pilot’s self-confidence. Laughing at ourselves but also knowing sometimes it is true too.”
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