News broke this week that SW Airlines spiffed up its LUV brand by rolling out a refreshed look to its planes. Seeing this video reminded me of a blog post I meant to write weeks ago but got waylaid. My 13 year-old grandson and I boarded a Southwest plane from San Diego to Oakland, heading for an adventure of whitewater rafting on the Trinity River. Standing at the entrance to the plane was Captain Michael Martel. Sure he had the cheery grin. But there was something else that spoke HEART and caught my eye. It was his necktie! Although my picture taking while juggling briefcase and luggage leaves much to be desired, just study the tie. It was designed by a child. He went on to explain something that few travelers know about the Southwest Adopt a Pilot program. I discovered that this award winning Adopt-A-Pilot program was introduced in 1997 as a supplementary way to educate students through aviation-themed activities related to Science, Geography, Math, Writing, and other core subjects. Southwest pilots volunteer their time to go into fifth grade classrooms to mentor and educate. As part of this program, Southwest holds a tie design contest where over 5,000 creative designs are submitted by students. The winner’s design is then worn by all participating Pilots the following year. Ummm, And a tie comes pretty darn close to the human heart.
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