If you ever manage to see double on an Alaskan Airlines flight, know that your eyes are not deceiving you. And no, you don’t have to worry if you’ve had too much to drink at the airport (maybe.)
The airline hired two identical brothers as pilots – a first in its history.
Alan and Alex may work for the same airline, but the brothers will be based in two different California cities. Alan will be based in San Francisco, and Alex will fly out of Los Angeles.
A Dream From Kenya To The States
At 13, the brothers moved to California from Kenya, bringing their love of airplanes with them.
Their love for aviation can be attributed to their parents, as some of their early memories are plane-watching with their father after church on Sunday afternoons. Meanwhile, their mom brought them on every business trip with her and noticed their passion for aviation at a young age. This prompted her to purchase Microsoft’s Flight Simulator software to support their dreams.
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“After I started playing with the program, that was it. I knew I wanted to do that [fly] for a job,” says Alan.
And while the brothers have achieved a fantastic milestone, especially in an industry where only three percent of pilots identify as Black, they have a few more goals they are trying to obtain.
For starters, the brothers are looking forward to flying as pilots together. As Alaska Airlines points out, flying together is challenging because of operations.
“We’ve never flown together professionally because we’ve always been on different aircraft,” says first officer Alex. “The goal is to have one of us upgrade to captain and operate the same aircraft so we can fly together.”
Another goal they hope to fulfill? Making sure the woman who invested in their dream is there for the ride!