When airline captain Justin Shurtz heard that his grandmother was coming to visit him in St. George, Utah, he didn’t just plan to pick her up, he planned to fly her in himself. What followed was a sky-high surprise that left passengers in tears and hearts full at 30,000 feet.
“She knew I was working. She was expecting me to pick her up in Las Vegas. She had no idea that I was going to show up on her flight,” Justin shared.
With help from American Airlines, Justin swapped flights with the original crew. But first, he had to do a little behind-the-scenes maneuvering. “Part of that, I had to contact the crew that was operating the flight, so I called the captain, and I said, ‘Hey, I have a question, and I need some help.’”
When the big moment came, Justin hid in the cockpit, waiting. Then he came on the intercom to tell the story of his grandparents who raised him in Memphis. His grandmother Carolyn’s eyes widened, she recognized the voice. “Then when she realizes it’s me, I’ll never forget the moment where she jumps out into the aisle and sees me standing there and the look on her face,” he said.
The emotional reunion touched every passenger on board.
“I know how hard we struggled and how well they’re doing. You understand?” Carolyn said. “That was my biggest thing, just how proud he made me at that moment.”
Justin credits everything he’s achieved to his grandparents: “They supported me my entire life… they were there backing us, pushing us to be the best of our potential.”
Sadly, Justin’s grandfather passed away in April and never got to fly with him commercially. “There was a lot of crying at first, especially when we were talking about my grandpa,” he said. “He got to fly with me once in a small airplane a very long time ago, when I first started flying.”
But Carolyn is certain of one thing: “He would have been right there with him if he could have been there. He said, ‘Scoot over, I’m sitting by Justin.’ He would have been extremely, extremely, extremely pleased. Yes. And He is. He is, yes.”
From Memphis roots to the captain’s seat, and from aisle tears to sky-high hugs, this was a flight neither of them will ever forget.
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