A Look at Pilot Gary H.'s Letters to Trenton Middle School

FROM THE ADOPT-A-PILOT CREW: Following is an excerpt from Pilot Gary H.'s letter to his students. This is a great example of how "adopted" Pilots correspond with their classes while away. We'd love to hear from more Pilots and classes on how you stay connected. Tell us by clicking on "Share A Story" or send us an e-mail at adoptapilot@wnco.com.

Hi Trenton Middle School 5th Graders!

I’m writing you from an unusual location for me – the back of an airplane that isn’t operated by Southwest, it’s operated by “the other guys.”  One good thing is that many large airlines let Pilots from most other airlines fly free so they can travel between home and work. This way, Pilots enjoy the freedom to live anywhere. I know a few Southwest Pilots who even live in Alaska and the Caribbean  islands!

With over 3400 flights a day to 64 cities, Southwest definitely helps our fair share of Pilots from many different airlines get around the country every day. We call it “commuting.” Every week, I need to get to the “domicile” or “crew base” that my trip starts from in time to begin my flying. Sometimes my trips start in the morning – in that case, I usually have to travel in the night before and get a hotel room on my own (like this trip). Sometimes my trips start in the afternoon – then I usually can get a ride to the crew base in the morning but normally I would finish my trip too late at my base to get home, so I spend the night and fly home the next day. Work is great, but there is no place like home!

This week, I am riding first to Dallas, my current crew base and the headquarters of Southwest Airlines, and then to the city that is the capital of Arkansas so I can start a trip tomorrow morning. Let's go over a few things:

I would like you to put your Adopt-A-Pilot map of the country (your teacher has it in the box from Southwest) on the wall or on a bulletin board in your homeroom so everyone will be able to see it. Look at the map - notice that there are no city names on it?  You will have to use your Adopt-A-Pilot books or other maps to help you. Each day when I am flying, I will send you an e-mail and let you know where I have flown that day. As a class, you will find the cities on the map and draw each “leg” of my flight for the day. Then you will enter the routing in your own workbook, along with the mileage for each leg, and then the total miles for each day. You will be amazed at how far I can travel in just one month.

Next, let’s work out the legs of my commute from last night and figure out the miles I rode:

MCI     to         DAL

DAL    to         ? (the capital of Arkansas)

Finally, make sure you do a good job on your interview homework. We’ll go over it in class and you are going to use it to help you do another assignment later.

Well – that’s it for today, tomorrow I will send some pictures too! 

Your Pilot - Gary

AWARD-WINNING COMMUNITY RELATIONS MENTORSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE

Seasons Greetings! Why now you ask? For many of us, it's the "most wonderful time of year" -- the official beginning of the Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot season.

From February through May, classrooms coast to coast are taking off on this educational mentorship adventure that opens a world of learning--and future career planning--for more than 30,000 students. As we celebrate the collaboration between our Spirited Pilots and Talented Teachers, we thought we'd let you take a peek at the program's official press release sent out to media across the country just last week.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ADOPT-A-PILOT PROGRAM TAKES OFF FOR STUDENTS NATIONWIDE

Pilots Volunteer in Community Relations Educational Program to Mentor Tens of Thousands of Students in Science, Math, Geography, Writing, Career-Planning, and More

To further its commitment to community and education, Southwest Airlines is kicking off its annual Adopt-A-Pilot program this month. From February through May, fifth-grade students in more than 1,000 classes across the country will “adopt” Southwest Airlines Pilots in this award-winning educational mentorship program that leads students through science, geography, math, writing, and other core subjects, all based in aviation-related activities. Students will also research careers, develop life values, and realize the importance of staying in school.

In order to teach students the importance of “Going Green,” the Adopt-A-Pilot program has added environmental awareness to the curriculum. The lesson focuses specifically on how Southwest Airlines views energy usage and fuel consumption and ways the airline has worked toward improving its aircraft to make them more eco-friendly. The students will learn about the aircrafts’ winglets, fun fuel conservation facts, energy and recycling habits, and ways they can help the environment too.

”The new environmental awareness lesson teaches about Southwest’s mission to be environmentally friendly. Our Employees are excited about our green initiatives and their inclusion in the Adopt-A-Pilot program is a great way to spread awareness and spark interest in students across the United States," said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Communications and Strategic Outreach.

More than 750 Southwest Pilots volunteer in the four-week-long mentorship program. Pilots volunteer their time in adoptive classrooms and correspond from the “road” via e-mail and postcards. Classrooms chart their Pilot’s course on an official U.S. route map and complete lessons related to the Pilot’s monthly flying schedule.

“We always enjoy our time in the classroom. The students’ curiosity and imagination makes the program worthwhile,” said Southwest Airlines Pilot Tim Leonard. “I’m proud to be a part of something that is diverse in its curriculum, enriching for students, and gets them excited about travel and future professions. The Adopt-A-Pilot program is more than just a volunteer opportunity for Pilots; it’s about building relationships.”

Created in 1997, Adopt-A-Pilot started as a small community outreach program in just 50 classrooms in Southwest’s destination cities, and now it reaches more than 800 classrooms in large and small communities nationwide. Southwest Airlines developed the program in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. National leaders such as Gen. Colin Powell, President Bill Clinton, and former First Lady Laura Bush have recognized the excellence of the Adopt-A-Pilot program.

For additional program information and to view the program curriculum please log on to the web site at www.southwest.com/adoptapilot.  

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states (Southwest will begin service to Minneapolis/St. Paul in March 2009). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide.

* (Answer: 1,116 gallons of jet fuel will be burned)

www.southwest.com

ADOPT-A-PILOT CREW MEMBER STANDING BY

The Adopt-A-Pilot program is such a feel-good community story, newspapers, television stations, and online news sources have been excited to cover the story. If you're a Pilot and would like help in getting the word out to your local media, we can help.

Mary Calvert and Casey Welch are pleased to introduce another member of the Adopt-A-Pilot Crew who has been our behind-the-scenes "outside consultant" since the program began in 1997 -- her name's Heather Beers. She's helped develop the program from its infancy and is a HUGE FAN of the hundreds of Pilots who have given so much to the growth of the program over the years.

This year, one of Heather's roles is to help our Pilots with publicity. Here's how:

1) For you DIY'ers -- Heather can e-mail copies of "fill-in-the-blank" media alerts and press releases you can customize and send out to local media on your own.

2) For those who'd like a little more help -- Let Heather know the details of your program -- where, when, what you're doing -- and she'll help send out media alerts and press releases to your local media.

3) For those who just want advice -- Heather can provide insight on working with media.

To reach her, e-mail AAPMedia@wnco.com.

Thanks for all you do, and we appreciate you working with Heather to spread the good news about the Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot program!