Delta’s Longest Serving Captain Retires

Categories: Industry News | News

From inside the cockpit, Cal Flanigan watched Delta Air Lines grow over the decades from a Southern regional carrier to a global airline that assigned him to pilot its inaugural flights to Dubai and other cities worldwide.

Now, after 37 years, Delta’s longest-serving pilot is hanging up his captain’s stripes. Flanigan is turning 65, which is the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots.

He landed his final flight – a Delta 777 widebody returning to Atlanta from Los Angeles – on Friday. His plane received a water-cannon salute and Flanigan was met by Delta employees with a celebration at the concourse gate at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

“It’s a career that has exceeded my wildest dreams,” Flanigan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’ve been preparing myself mentally for the last year, knowing it’s coming and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”

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