For passengers on American Airlines Flight 1246 to Toronto, it was a routine trip. For Captains Andrew Anderson and Andre Turner, it was a moment they had talked about since they were kids.
The two have known each other since they were 11 years old. They grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, went to school together, then moved to the United States to attend college in Melbourne, Florida.
Anderson studied medicine, while Turner pursued accounting. Two years later, both decided they were unhappy with those career paths.
“One day, over lunch, the pair talked about what they truly wanted to do with their lives. ‘We both realized we wanted the same thing, and we decided we would do it together, to eventually be captains at American Airlines,’” Anderson said.
After earning their pilot licenses, they started at Colgan Air. Later, Anderson joined Copa Airlines and Turner flew for Alaska Airlines. Eventually, both were hired as captains at American Airlines.
They still had one goal left, flying together in the same cockpit.
That chance came when the copilot Anderson was scheduled to fly with called out sick.
“‘So I called Andre and told him to quickly go into the system and pick it up,’” Anderson said.
When the two boarded Flight 1246 together, Anderson used the intercom to tell passengers what the flight meant to them. He ended with a message to Turner.
“‘I want to say to Andre, thank you for helping me figure out this is what I wanted to do,’” he said. “‘You’ve been a motivation to me throughout my entire career. I think we can officially say we’ve made it. Love you.’”
Anderson said the flight was emotional and fun.
“‘After we got through the professional part of being serious for takeoff and reached cruising altitude, it felt like any other day we’d be hanging out and talking about what was going on in our lives, just now at 35,000 feet,’” he said.
At one point, Anderson looked over at Turner and said, “We’ve reached pretty big heights for two little Jamaican boys.”
Turner answered, “We did that together, mi bredda”, Jamaican Patois for “brother.”
“‘The biggest thing I want people to take from this story,’ Anderson said, ‘is that it’s okay to dream a dream that feels too big. If you don’t put it out into the universe first, you’ll never be able to find the path or the steps to reach it.’”
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