A mother and daughter relationship is a special thing. As moms we may not feel this way as our daughter struggles through her teenage years but to have a daughter is to have a friend for life.
It’s important that a mom and daughter spend quality time together. So, when a plane passenger overheard the crew announce mother and daughter pilots were flying the plane he had to see for himself.
He took a picture of the two and the inspirational image has captured the hearts of the nation.
Meet mother and daughter duo — Captain Wendy Rexon and her first-officer daughter Kelly Rexon.
https://twitter.com/ERAUWatret/status/1107085406640709632
‘I was in awe’
The flying duo was snapped in the cockpit of a Delta Boeing 757 flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
The passenger who took the picture was Dr. John R. Watret, who is the chancellor of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
He overheard the flight crew announce the mother and daughter flying team and had to see for himself.
“I thought that was amazing. I was in awe,” Dr. Watret said, according to a press release. “I asked if I could visit them, too.”
He then snapped a photo of the pair and posted it on Twitter.
The post quickly took flight with more than 50,000 responses and 18,000 retweets to date.
‘The most amazing, wonderful news ever’
Just 6.3% of commercial pilots and 6% of non-commercial pilots in the United States are women, according to the Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide.
Many social media users said they were inspired by the photo which Dr. Watret described as “inspiring for you women.”
“That is just the most amazing, wonderful news ever—seriously. My mother and I would never have flown together as crew. We couldn’t even agree on having the radio on/off in the car,” one social media user wrote.
Another social media user, who is also a pilot, took the opportunity to share a photo of him and his son flying together.
With my son, also pic.twitter.com/n6WrwNWapP
— rocarasa (@rocarasa) March 18, 2019
Piloting seems to run in the family with Wendy’s father, Bill Brown, being a retired pilot with Northwest Airline, her husband Michael Rexon is a pilot with American Airlines, and her other daughter Kate is also a pilot, according to Yahoo.
Dr. Watret said the viral tweet meant a lot to him as the university was focused on creating more opportunities for women in all areas of the aviation industry.
I hope this image inspires more women to become pilots and more moms and daughters to spend time together doing whatever they both enjoy!
Please share this story with all the women in your life.
