By Capt. Chris Potts (Delta, Ret.)
That One Day
I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. When I was 14 years old, our family took a three-week driving vacation around the United States. At one point we spent the night in San Antonio, Texas, and when we awoke my parents told us to get dressed up for a big surprise. In those days, getting dressed up meant putting your suit on.
Without knowing where we were going they loaded us in the car and took us to the airport. Only after we got there did they tell us we were taking a side trip to Acapulco, Mexico. Walking up to that huge Braniff 727 was incredibly exciting, and before the landing gear was even in the wheel wells I knew I was going to be an airline pilot.
Getting ready to head to Acapulco.
When I told someone what I wanted to do for a living they often just smiled and nodded their heads. My high school guidance counselor told me I wasn’t smart enough and should look for another career, perhaps in business or a trade school. But my parents nurtured my dream, and for my seventeenth birthday they gave me some flying lessons.
I took my first lesson on the Fourth of July, 1970. I went to college, worked hard, and my dream came true in 1979 when I was hired by Northwest Airlines. Thirty-four years later, in December 2012, I retired as a 747-400 captain for Delta Air Lines.
The memory of that first flight is as clear to me today as it was when I was 14. I keep a picture from that day next to one of me sitting in the 747-400. It is a reminder of how incredibly important that one day was in shaping my life and how lucky I am to have been able to live my dream.
The author later in his career.