To help commemorate Valentine’s Day this year, we spoke to a selection of six pilot-pilot couples to learn more about their unique relationships. None of them proclaim to have a perfect marriage or believe that they have all the answers. Instead, their stories are meant to educate, to inspire, and hopefully even to provide a pathway for those in or considering entering into their own similar relationship. Today, meet Andy and Fallon Winslow.
When she first met her now-husband, Andy, Fallon Winslow had a strict “no pilots” rule in dating. But, she laughed, “I’m a sucker for a man in uniform and when I met Andy my rule very quickly became modified.” The two, now both first officers with Alaska, have been married six years and have a one-year-old child together.
Early in their relationship the two huddled to plan out their future, including their targeted career progression together. “The most challenging part,” said Fallon, “was trying to figure out what airline we ultimately wanted to retire with that would keep us at home, provide job security, and would also be conducive for a family lifestyle.” Even then, sacrifices still had to be made, as Fallon admits “the idea of flying a widebody had to go out the window for me” so she can be home with her son more often.
The two try to bid opposite schedules as much as possible so one of them is home at all times, but even then Andy says their chosen career has its perks. “A lot of people not in the industry think we never see each other, when the opposite is true,” he explains. “And we’re off more than the typical two-day weekend so we get more full days together than the average couple.”
To learn more about the sacrifices made, challenges met, and opportunities enjoyed by Andy and Fallon and five other married pilot couples that spoke to us, read Love is in the Air: When Pilots Marry Pilots.
