Published: pt. 07 cze 2024 at 09:10
A Line Training Captain and his First Officer son, who both work for leading leisure airline, Jet2.com, will celebrate Father’s Day in the sky, as the duo will operate a training flight together on Sunday 16th June from Leeds Bradford Airport to Majorca.
Martin and Harry Beaton, from Knaresborough in Yorkshire, will make it a Father’s Day to remember and are making memories that they will cherish forever with Martin guiding his son through his pilot training – a dream that they have shared for years. The flight will contribute towards Harry’s set number of flights he needs to achieve for his pilot qualification and will actually mark 25 hours spent together in the sky for the high-flying pair.
First joining Jet2.com in 2014, Martin’s role as a Line Training Captain involves overseeing the skills of trainee pilots and training them to fly with a regular Line Captain or First Officer commercially. Occasionally, Martin also flies customers on their scheduled holiday flights, taking happy holidaymakers on their well-deserved getaways from his airport base, Leeds Bradford.
Having held a lifelong passion for aviation, Harry first joined Jet2.com as an Airport Customer Helper in 2019. He became a non-type rated First Officer in January 2024 with the aim of becoming fully qualified to fly Jet2.com’s fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. After operating a set number of flights alongside a Line Training Captain, including his own father, Harry will complete his final line check at the end of June, at which point an examiner will assess his flight from the jump seat and declare him fit to fly alongside Jet2.com’s commercial pilots.
Harry has had a passion for the aviation industry from a young age, with Martin’s successful ten-year career at Jet2.com inspiring him to follow in his footsteps. Martin explained: “Any father would be proud to have their own son following in their footsteps, but that was never essential to me. At the end of the day, you just want your kids to be happy in whatever they’re doing in life. Everybody’s different and while my other three children have shown no intentions to follow my career path, Harry has kept a very keen interest in flying ever since he was two years old. From playing on my flight simulator, his interest has grown stronger and stronger.”
Harry added: “It’s been my dream to fly alongside my dad for as long as I can remember, so to be training together on Father’s Day makes the moment even more special. We’ve spoken for years about how amazing it would be and I’m so delighted to get to this point in my career. At no point have my family ever pushed me towards this route – it really has been what I’ve always wanted for myself. I’ve been very lucky to have such supportive parents who have given me guidance to get to where I wanted to be.”
When asked whether the pair work well together, Harry said: “It’s funny, I get asked this question a lot! My dad taught me to drive, and he was the most patient man I’ve ever seen. I knew if he could teach me to drive without shouting, I had no worries about learning to fly with him!”
Martin agreed, adding: “Everyone always asks me what it’s like to fly with my son, but we’re very close as father and son so I don’t foresee any issues at all with us operating in the flight deck together.”
After operating the training flight together, Martin and Harry will celebrate the remainder of Father’s Day by spending quality time together at home with the rest of their family.
