Women Make History By Becoming First Mother-Daughter Duo To Copilot International Flight

May 18, 2023

Two women have made history by becoming the first mother-daughter duo to take to the skies and pilot an international flight.

The FedEx pilots sealed their names in the history books after making the nearly 7,000-mile trip from Memphis to Incheon, South Korea, on a 14-and-a-half-hour flight in late April 2023.

Both Teri Eidson and her daughter, Nicole McCallister, discovered a passion for flying at a young age. Eidson, who grew up in Australia, told Business Insider “seeing planes flying overhead” as a child made ambitions of becoming a pilot seem “really cool.” Later in college, she met her husband, who then received his pilot license and found a job at FedEx. She, too, found a job at FedEx handling packages after he told her how much he enjoyed working with the company, and within four years, she “got on the pilot line.”

Eidson’s journey inspired her daughter to pursue flying as well. By the time McAllister was a young teenager, she knew she wanted to follow in her footsteps. She began by joining the Air Force before eventually landing a job at FedEx as well.

“My mom said FedEx was a really good opportunity, and they'd help pay for some of my flight training,” McAllister told the outlet.

Between 700 captains and 900 copilots between two FedEx bases, it would seem unlikely for the mother and daughter to be paired together for a flight. However, two weeks before Eidson was scheduled to fly the Memphis-Incheon route, she took a chance and asked the chief pilot if Nicole could join them and said it “would be kind of cool to fly with my daughter.” Eidson got the green light for her request, and soon mother and daughter were in the skies making history.

While it was already so special to be able to fly with her daughter, the trip turned into a family affair once Eidson’s husband bumped off one of the relief pilots and took on the role instead.

“It was actually the three of us flying together, and that was really cool,” Eidson said.

Eidson said the flight went smoothly and “didn't seem as odd as I thought it would be. When we're flying together, she responds to checklist items and I respond to call-outs just like normal. We got to cruise, you get to kick back a little bit and put the autopilot on and talk and stuff. But for the most part, she was my copilot. Then we get on the ground and we had a good time. We got to eat dinner and hang together so on the layovers, it was fun,” she recounted.

Meanwhile, McAllister told CBS News, “It was one of the better landings I've had.” She added: 

“In that moment, it was funny because my mom was sitting right next to me, but I also reflected on what my mom said which was like I know I'm going to do well and this is what I've worked for.”   

She also told the outlet how inspirational her mother was. “I just remember as a kid, she was always there and as an adult she's always been here,” she said.

As for whether the duo will ever take to the skies again, it appeared highly unlikely for now. Eidson is based in Memphis, while McAllister is stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. 

“So for the future, I don't know if we'd be able to accommodate a lot of trips together. It'd be nice, but they were able to make this trip happen,” McAllister said.

Don’t you think it was wonderful for the mother-daughter duo to share such a special moment? If you liked their story, be sure to pass this on to friends and family you know would love to read about it too.