[ad_1]
This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
Keith Rosenkranz attended a high school adjacent to the north runway of Los Angeles International Airport.
“On rainy days, I would sit in my second-floor window at my high school and just watch the planes take off and land,” he told Business Insider. “And it was like a dream that I wanted to come true someday.”
Throughout his 33 years as a Delta Air Lines pilot, Rosenkranz would tilt the plane’s wings toward his alma mater every time he took off from LAX.
“Maybe that boy or girl sitting in that window dreams of flying, just like I do,” he said.
On February 28, the 64-year-old took to the wings of an Airbus A330neo for the last time as part of the coolest retirement party ever.
After 16 months of planning, Rosenkranz chartered a Delta Air Lines widebody plane to transport 112 of his friends and family.
Aviation news sites such as Simple Flying and One Mile at a Time reported on high-profile charters at X.
Delta A330-900 pilot Captain Rosenkranz went all out for his retirement celebration. ?✈️ He chartered his own A330neo to take his family and friends to Hawaii on his whirlwind 24-hour adventure. #Aviation #avgeek #planespotting pic.twitter.com/JwmZevJ75F
— Airline Videos (@airlinevideos) February 28, 2024
Delta Air Lines’ A330-900 has 281 seats, but Rosenkranz said he chose the number of passengers because the carrier had two 56-passenger buses.
The passengers came from various stages of his life, from elementary school to college, the Air Force, colleagues at Delta Air Lines, and neighbors in Texas.
Rosenkranz told BI that he came up with the idea in October 2022, after the retirements of many of his colleagues were interrupted by the pandemic.
“If you go back to when we were dealing with COVID-19, a lot of pilots didn’t get to take the last flight they wanted,” he said. “We canceled so many flights to Europe. One of my friends was only able to fly round trip from Atlanta to Orlando. He grabbed one ticket for his wife. I put it in, and that was it.”
He called a friend in Delta’s charter division about the idea, and the friend said, “Nobody’s ever done that before.”
Rosenkranz was able to negotiate a lower price than his original offer after pointing out that he was an employee, not a professional sports team like his usual customers.
He told BI it had cost him a “significant annual salary”, but added: “You can’t put a price on something that big. You’ll think about whether you can take all your family and friends out there.” Ta. It’s been a whirlwind journey. I don’t want to be the richest man in the grave someday. ”
From Dallas to Los Angeles to Hawaii
Rosenkranz said the trip was “very emotional,” especially when he and his family arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport around 6 a.m.
“There were about 50 people in the gate area and my heart just broke,” he told BI.
“Then it was touching the second time when we boarded the jet and it was decorated with pictures and other things,” he added.
The jet was greeted with a water cannon salute in Los Angeles, but the city’s water restrictions have made such salutes rare. Rosenkranz told BI that he was only the second pilot in nine years to earn this honor.
The trip continued to Hawaii. Four pilots were needed because regulations prohibit flying both domestic and transoceanic trips in one day.
Rosenkranz told BI that he met the pilot who served as his co-pilot on the trip when he was a 16-year-old box boy at Safeway.
Keith Rosencrantz and his wife Colette. Provided courtesy of Keith Rosenkranz from his BI
In Hawaii, he and his wife Colette renewed their wedding vows.
“When I met her on August 22, 1977, I was wearing a yellow Hawaiian shirt, and the girl who introduced me to my wife was on the guest list.” Rosencrantz said.
“So I asked her to come over and I gave her the yellow shirt. Then she would take off her current shirt and put on this yellow shirt. Then I invited Colette over and she was so surprised and excited. I was there.”
passion for flight
Coincidentally, Mr. Rosencrantz’s last flight with Delta Air Lines was on the anniversary of his last flight in an F-16 fighter jet in 1991.
Before becoming a commercial pilot, he served in the Air Force and flew 30 combat missions.
In Delta, he met a Vietnam War veteran who told him stories of the Gulf War and encouraged him to write a memoir. “Vipers in the Storm” was published by his Aviation Week in 1999.
For the charter, one of his friends made a cutout of Rosencrantz from the book’s cover.
Keith Rosencrantz cutout. Provided by BI, courtesy of Keith Rosenkranz
Rosenkranz told BI how he responds to readers who want to join the military. He became good friends with a man named Isaac and they ended up serving in the same Air Force squadron. Years later, they ended up flying the same Delta A320.
Mr. Rosencrantz’s passion for airplanes is evident as he smiles and talks about his past flights. “I’ve been all over the Far East. I’ve been to Moscow. I’ve been all over Europe. I’ve been to South America. And I’ve always had a window seat.”
Pilot recalled that he used to give talks at schools and always asked kids when they thought the last time they worked was.
“I say I haven’t worked since I worked at a Safeway supermarket in 1983. Since then, I’ve been paid to fly jets.”
[ad_2]
Source link
