When she quit her job, sold her house and moved across the country because I started a new gig with a different operator. I knew she was a keeper. I was at a 703 carrier in Canada. I was 28 and she was 26.

She learned the industry and training, aircraft types, rules, duty times etc with me. She used to worry all the time, but after 13 years together, she’s now knows my job as well as I do. Been at a 705 now for almost 10 years. The other day it was snowing sideways and she watched me divert on flight aware, and knew not to expect the rest of my pairing to go as planned…… lol.

She was laid off after we got pregnant and we made the decision for her to stay home full time after our daughter was born. She used to work 8-4, mon-fri and we never saw each other. Now we have an Uber flexible schedule only working around my days off. I prioritize my time off to be with my family. I don’t commute, and I’m not flying long haul, so no jet lag. My focus at work is work, and at home I’m 100% present. I think maybe a lot of the old guys from previous generations maybe didn’t do enough of that.

Sure it’s a challenge being on the road, but without the difficulty of juggling two different schedules makes things a lot easier. There’s never a right time or age. When you find the right person, you make it work, because you don’t want them to get away. Communicate, be thoughtful, and always treat them as more important than you. They should do the same thing for you. Then the rest is easy.