Her pilot father promised her a journey from the airport. Then he stunned her by flying the aircraft dwelling

When Addison Stock requested her pilot father for a journey dwelling from the airport, she knew he’d come by means of.

“When he shows up, it’s like, ‘Okay, I’m taken care of,” Stock tells CNN Travel. “That’s how he’s been my whole life, he’s always been the type to show up.”

But she couldn’t have predicted simply how far her father would go this time.

It was early August, Stock was coming back from her “perfect” honeymoon in Cancún, Mexico, together with her new husband, Quinn. The couple anticipated Stock’s father, Southwest Airlines captain John Arvin, to fulfill them together with his automobile at arrivals in Phoenix, Arizona.

First, although, the couple needed to endure a packed flight dwelling. They’d forgotten to examine within the day earlier than — too busy having fun with their closing day of trip — and now discovering themselves behind the road for unassigned seats, they figured they’d be sitting aside.

As she waited on the gate in Cancún, battling a headache, Stock seen a Southwest pilot lingering close by, his cellphone. Strange habits, she thought.

And then she glanced within the different course, and acquired the shock of her life. Walking towards her, in full uniform and grinning, was her father.

“It felt like an out-of-body experience, because you’re just so not expecting your dad at the airport,” recollects Stock.

Stock glanced again on the different pilot, now filming the second on his cellphone. Only then did it click on. Her father wasn’t going to fulfill her on the airport in Phoenix. He was going to fly her there.

Stock’s husband Quinn caught on extra shortly. He was already hugging Arvin whereas Stock was nonetheless sitting, surprised. Eventually, she jumped as much as embrace her father too.

“It was so fun,” Stock says. “A really great way to end the whole thing, the trip, the wedding season. It just felt really special.”

Captain Arvin had been planning the shock for months. The concept started when Stock requested him to assist plan her honeymoon. After the flights have been booked, he quietly checked to see who could be piloting the return leg — and bid for it himself.

Flight secured, he instructed his spouse, Kelli, and Stock’s grandparents, however swore them to secrecy.

Then, when Stock and Quinn requested if he might decide them up in Phoenix, he agreed, with out giving something away: “I would be picking them up from the airport. I just didn’t say which airport.”

To keep away from any leaks, Arvin turned off his cellphone’s location providers, which often ping a household group chat every time he lands in a brand new vacation spot.

On the day of the flight, Arvin’s fellow pilot, Karl Sheltz, scouted the gate, whereas Arvin hid out in a present retailer till it was time to stroll as much as his daughter.

“I said, ‘You told me to pick you up at the airport, so here I am’,” recollects Arvin, laughing. “She was surprised that her dad was there. It was funny. It was an exciting time.”

After the hugs and a selfie, Arvin slipped away to arrange the airplane — and made certain the couple have been the primary to board the aircraft so they may select their seats in spite of everything.

Arvin didn’t point out that his daughter and son-in-law have been on board throughout his preflight remarks. “I usually don’t try to announce that my family’s on the airplane,” he says. “I just leave it subtle.”

But he did congratulate the newlyweds typically phrases throughout his preflight remarks. He additionally briefed his crew.

“Usually, when something like that happens, it’s exciting for the whole crew, because most days are just typical in and out days,” says Arvin. “And when something special is happening, you kind of get a little pick up in your step.”

Later, when the flight landed in Arizona, Arvin efficiently delivered on half two of his promise. “I walked them out of the airport to the car where I was parked, and went home.”

For Stock, getting flown dwelling by her dad was the right finish to her honeymoon.

“I just knew that we’re in good hands and we’re gonna be taken care of,” she says. “And that just kind of sums him up for me.”

As for Arvin, he says it was a pleasure to share another milestone, so quickly after strolling his daughter down the aisle at her marriage ceremony.

“She’s very important to me,” he says. “I’ve been able to be in her life a lot, and it was special. It was neat to be there.”

“Everything worked out, lined up just right, and it was just what I was hoping for.”

Stock says her father’s gesture epitomizes their relationship. She says rising up, her father was at all times there for her and her brother, Connor. “He’s just a good dad,” she says. “He cares and wants moments with me.”

Quinn, Stock’s husband, additionally appreciated the shock.

“They are really close,” says Stock. “My dad just absolutely loves him and cares for him like a son.”

Stock says she’s now excited to start a brand new chapter together with her husband, however the flight was a reminder that her father will proceed to help her.

“It just was such a testament to just how he has literally always been, my whole entire life, which is just there and cares and wants it to be special,” she says. “I loved it. It was just perfect.”