From seat mates to soul mates, love can blossom in sometimes the most unlikely of places. In fact, we've helped our customers mastermind the perfect proposal and even assisted in organizing a wedding ceremony mid-flight. This Valentine's day, we are celebrating love with a few of our favorite onboard love stories.
Love in the air
As pilots, Los Angeles-based First Officers Peter Methot and Anna Lenhoff-Methot share a special bond, first as husband and wife and then as colleagues. While it's certainly rare to find two spouses who are both pilots, the way that Anna and Peter met is perhaps the most inexplicable thing about their unique story. It was only Anna's second day at United, and she was working late in the Denver training center on a Friday night when she met Peter after deciding to take a break. From that night forward they were inseparable, as friends and then as a couple, and have now been married for 20 years.
On this flight…I thee wed
Olana DiGirolamo and Mark Alioto first met while boarding a Newark-bound flight at Los Angeles International Airport. Two years later, the couple planned their dream wedding in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, two weeks before the ceremony, the wedding was cancelled because Olana's mother was in the hospital in New Jersey. While her mother's condition did eventually improve in time for the wedding, the venue and services had already been cancelled. Olana's brother, Arland DiGirolamo, who was officiating the wedding, worked with the United Customer Care Team to surprise the couple with an onboard wedding ceremony during their flight back from New Jersey to Los Angeles. The ceremony was a wonderful way to celebrate how Olana and Mark first met — on board a flight from Newark to LA.
A chance encounter in the air
From seat mates to life-long partners, Jake Guthrie and his wife are another one of the many couples that met on board a United flight, back in 2014. It was just happenchance that they were seated next to each other. The two hit it off throughout the flight, which led Jake to ask his seat mate on a date. Three years later the couple is married and flew off to their honeymoon the same way their relationship started, onboard a United aircraft.
Love flies the friendly skies
When customer Patrick Marsden decided to propose to his girlfriend, Molly, he knew that it needed to be a memorable event. With the help of United employees from Food and Beverage, Dulles International Airport crew, and the flight attendants working the flight, Patrick was able to propose on board. He surprised Molly by making her think she was watching a United promotion about new premium cabin entrees, but prior to the flight Patrick had added in footage of himself popping the question.
