'To the passengers on my flight': Pilot's touching note on retirement

Captain Jeff Rowland (centre) with Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer. Photo / Twitter

Two million passengers, 33 years and 10,000 flights.

It has been quite the journey for Captain Jeff Rowland, so upon his retirement from the skies yesterday he decided to make sure passengers knew exactly what he thinks of them. To mark the occasion, the former American Airlines pilot handed out notes to those who happened to be on his final flight.

The note, which LA Times reporter Sam Farmer shared on Twitter, touched on how challenging air travel can be but finished positively, detailing the things he will miss most about flying.

Captain on my LAX-DFW flight this morning was piloting the last leg of his 33-year career. His family was in first class, and inside of the plane was festooned with streamers & balloons.
In Dallas, we were greeted by a celebratory arch of water cannons on the tarmac. Touching. pic.twitter.com/qIsnzonO9B

— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) January 28, 2018

"I know we sometimes look at air travel as sort of a necessary evil ... to be endured," Capt Rowland wrote. "There are things to complain about, for sure."

He went on to call the aviation industry "unforgiving".

Then the praise rolled in: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. AA only made one big mistake I can think of with me ... they paid me, and I would have done this for nothing (I think I'll laugh all the way to the bank)."

He went on: "Certainly I'll miss flying this $200 million Boeing 787 ... But most of all I will miss serving you, my precious passengers. Transporting you to destinations all over the world, while you graciously endured my lame PA's, critiqued every single landing and thanked me for flying, provided purpose for this lifelong endeavour."

He had quite a touching farewell, with his family flying in first class along with balloons in the cabin and water cannons on the tarmac in Dallas.

.@AmericanAir Capt Jeff Rowland let me try out the left seat on the @Boeing 787 #Dreamliner on our trip to Dallas today. pic.twitter.com/Jqaq98k4Ei

— Tommy Thayer (@tommy_thayer) December 7, 2016

Awesome moment boarding flight to Dallas this morning as they announce pilot is retiring after 33 years at @AmericanAir. Love celebrating consistency, quiet achievement & excellence. Here’s to Captain Jeff Rowland’s last flight but hopefully not mine! pic.twitter.com/ZsjScm9PJr

— Steve Shenbaum (@steveshenbaum) January 28, 2018

Capt Rowland has been featured in tweets from passengers over the years, including one from Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer.