As many people celebrated “Take Daughters and Sons to Work Day” last week, one mother and daughter duo experienced a day they will never forget. FedEx pilots Teri Eidson and Nicole McCallister became the first mother-daughter team in history to co-pilot an international flight on Thursday.
Reflecting on their experience, the two said they were grateful for the opportunity. Their special day comes just before Mother’s Day next month and almost 91 years after Amelia Earhart became the first female to fly solo over the Atlantic.
A flight to remember
Eidson and McCallister piloted FedEx flight 5434 from the carrier’s main hub at Memphis International Airport to Incheon, South Korea. According to Flightradar24.com data, they departed early Thursday morning at 5:05 CST, and after a flight of just over 14 hours, the duo landed at Incheon International Airport on Friday at 9:12 KST. Before they embarked on their journey, Eidson said that the reality of flying with her daughter had not hit her quite yet.
“I mean, the opportunity for the two of us to go fly a Tripple Seven around the world? I mean, how many people can say they get to do that? You take your daughter to work day? I literally get to take my daughter to work.”
Eidson is a Boeing 777F captain for FedEx and has worked at the airline for 28 years. She began her career as a flight attendant before pursuing being a pilot.
Photo: Sarina Lavon
“To be completely honest…I don’t know that it’s really sunk in yet,” Eisdon said. “I mean, I think we’ll be rolling down the runway and go, ‘Oh wait, that’s my little baby there!’ It seems like we’re still just going to work. We gotta focus on the task at hand and get there. It’s gonna be so cool to look back at this.”
Sharing the same passion and dream
McCallister, Eidson’s daughter, is a 777 first officer and followed in her mom’s footsteps, joining the US Air Force in the early days of her career. While eight months pregnant with her son, she interviewed with FedEx to become a pilot. She spoke about being able to experience her career dream with her mom.
Photo: Sarina Lavon
“I’ve been able to fly with my mom on a jumpseat before […] and I’ve been preparing in my career to do well. I just think that we’re both the kind of people that wanna get the job done and get it done well, and I think we’re gonna have a great trip. I’m just so honored that we’re able to have this opportunity because it’s one thing to have a goal in mind and to have a dream you wanna experience, but how many people get to share that same passion and dream of a career as their parents and with their mom?”
Paving the path for women
The mother and daughter join other women, such as Amelia Earhart and Bonnie Tiburzi, who have transformed the aviation industry. But, Eidson explained that not many women worked at FedEx when she started nearly 30 years ago.
“When I first got on to FedEx […], there weren’t that many females, and you look around flight ops now, you see a lot more,” she explained. “And I kind of hope that those of us that were there in the beginning kind of helped set up the path for other women as well.”
Eidson also mentioned that her daughter will be someone to inspire other women who aspire to work in the industry.
“And Nicole coming along too. She’s going to set up a path for other women behind her, so it’s constantly paving a way and making sure that you can let other people know that you don’t have to be this or that,” she said. “You can be the pilot. You can be the captain, you can be the stay-at-home mom. You can do any of these things; you don’t have to do one thing or the other. You have the option to do anything.”
Photo: Sarina Lavon
McCallister said that women are able to succeed in their careers because of the support they get.
“That’s why we’re all able to be successful in our careers because we had such great support,” she explained. “And it wasn’t just a driving force of support we had, but it was an emotional connection behind that.”
Reflecting on their special day, McCallister said she was honored to share a career passion with her mom. She thanked FedEx for the opportunity.
“It is so neat. And I am […] so thankful that FedEx was able to put this together that we could fly together around the world,” she said.
Source: Current Global