Happy Fast Jet Friday,

Welcome to the hundreds of you who joined this past month. The base we are building here is something special, real aviators, aspiring pilots, and people chasing a better version of themselves, all in one place. I do not take a single one of you for granted.

Here is what is on the flight plan today.

A stadium full of people looked up this week and got a moment they will never forget. As a Fighter Pilot and an Air Line Captain, I want to give credit where it is due, because a flyby like that does not just happen. Four things make a moment like this great, and they are the same four things behind any high stakes performance:

• The briefing. A thorough briefing conducted among all the members involved, identifying the threats and the opportunities.
• The coordination. Timing, communication, and trust between the ground, air traffic control, and the airborne assets.
• The rules. You have to know the rules of the place you are operating in.
• The experience. Creating something authentic and unforgettable for the people lucky enough to witness it in person, and for everyone who feels it later.

That is the craft. When it is done right it looks effortless, and that is exactly why it is so impressive.

Click Here for my thoughts on FLY BYS that went viral in SA!

If you are chasing this career, hear me clearly. The majors are hiring by the thousands in 2026. Hiring across the industry climbed 17 percent last year, and this is shaping up to be one of the strongest hiring years since the post pandemic surge. There has rarely been a better time to go after the flight deck. Bet on yourself.

Because you are on this list, here are a few of the insights I share with new hires at my favorite legacy carrier. Some of the most common questions are about commuting, which lines up exactly with what I see on my TikTok. Learn how commuting works, and learn your company's commuting policies the way they tie into the Flight Operations Manual and the Pilot Working Agreement. Commuting is a challenge, a blessing, and a privilege all at once, and I will go deeper on it in future issues.

The other thing that overwhelms almost every new pilot is managing the schedule, the differences between holding a line, sitting reserve, training, and all the variables in between. I love these questions, and I have future videos coming that break it down. The military does a great job inside the squadron of assigning a pilot and a family to every new arrival, and we are working to do that better at the airlines too, helping people get comfortable and indoctrinated into a new company and a new environment.

At the end of the day, your professionalism is yours to own. So here are my four best pieces of advice for every single flight: be safe, be professional, take great care of your customers and coworkers, and have fun.

I sat down with Dr. Abigail Powell, THE AVIATION THERAPIST, for a conversation I have not released to the public yet. You get it first. We talked about the brief we never give ourselves, the mental side of this profession that nobody trains you for, the treasure chest we carry home to the people we love, the myth of always being at 100 percent, and a simple wind down routine you can use tonight. Even I opened up more than I expected to. What we covered applies to everyone, from a teenager considering aviation to a seasoned Pilot near the end of their career. Mental health escapes none of us.

Watch the exclusive first look here
Follow Dr. Powell on Instagram: @theaviationtherapist

Captain Fernando Contreras is a performance and fitness coach, and he is the reason I want to go deeper with you on health, fitness, and nutrition. The airplane gets a maintenance schedule and the pilot usually does not. That has to change.

Watch my conversation with Captain Contreras here
Follow Captain Contreras on Instagram: @captaincontreras

The foundation of all of it is sleep. I am not shy about what I actually use, my nightly sleep packet from Momentous. The people who take performance most seriously trust their standards, and so do I, every single night. They are running a promotion on their sleep line right now.

Get the Momentous sleep line here

My favorite part of this whole business has never been the airplanes. It is the people. The friends network in aviation is the real treasure, and this week it handed me one of the best nights of my life.

My dear friend Scott Durland, a fellow 767 and 757 Captain who flies the line with me at the Air Line, flies my SR22, and also has a place in Grand Lake, gave me an exclusive invite and would not tell me what it was for. Turns out Scott owns the premier country honky tonk in Denver: The GRIZZLY ROSE, and the surprise was a pop up concert from one of the biggest country entertainers of all time. I got to be his exclusive guest in front of an intimate crowd, watching Garth Brooks belt out favorite songs that everyone in that room knew by heart. I have chased a lot of thrills in a lot of cockpits. That night is right at the top. That is what the friends network gives you, moments money cannot buy. Cherish yours.

Scott and me, and Garth Brooks feet away at The GRIZZLY ROSE in Denver.