Heather,

 Just finished reading your book Cruising Attitude and loved it! Flight attendants are the true heroes of our industry! I have been a pilot in the airlines for 13 years (seven years at a commuter and six at a Dallas based LUV company) and your stories ring true from crash pads to the overnight hotels. What was best about reading your book is it keeps me motivated to return to my civilian job and the industry – despite all it’s hardships I can’t see myself doing anything else.

 I am an Air Force Reservist and my unit was mobilized earlier this year to support Operation Enduring Freedom. I am currently deployed on a 6 month tour to the middle east and flying missions over Afghanistan (not as a pilot but as a mission crew). After 12 years of airline commuting I finally moved to north Dallas so I could be in a domicile and spend more time with my wife and 3 little boys – the irony is I have spent more time away from them this year than in the last 12 due to the military 🙂 The good news is I hope to be home for Christmas and back to my company in January – can’t wait!  Thanks again for a great book and good moral boost! Hope to see you in an airport or on a commute sometime – my treat for coffee! –  B. M. Lt Col, USAFR / First Officer Southwest Airlines

[This letter means so much to me.  And you better believe I’ll be the one buying the coffee – not the other way around – as a way to say thank you for serving our country and keeping us safe.  Seriously, how cool are these photos?  That’s my book on a mission!]