Maui for Mother’s Day

BY

Most people manage to do something nice for the mothers in their lives on Mother’s Day. But Canyon Laker Bob Burns, a Delta Airlines pilot, arranged his flight schedule to make the day most memorable for his wife, Michelle, who had already celebrated with her children a week earlier.

Bob says that, as an airline captain, his job can take him away from home quite often – but sometimes it has its perks. One of his regular flights takes him to Maui, where he has to spend the night before making the return flight.

Since Michelle had already celebrated Mother’s Day with her kids a week early, Bob decided to rearrange his two-day Maui trip to depart on Mother’s Day. At a time when many moms are heading out to Sunday brunch, 11 a.m., Bob and Michelle were arriving in Maui.

Bob says, “I was actually flying the jet, but my wife got to ride in first class on the way over. Happy Mother’s Day!”

The airline put them up at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Kaanapali Beach, where they got to enjoy the pool, take a run on the beach and dine at two of their favorite restaurants. They had mahi mahi dinner at “Leilani’s on the Beach.” The next morning they had mahi mahi benedict for breakfast at “Maui Fish and Pasta,” before leaving on their return flight.

“Since I fly this trip frequently, I have gotten to know most of the people at the hotel and most of the waiters and managers at our favorite restaurants, which makes it a very easy, enjoyable visit,” says Bob.

Bob has been working for Delta for 39 years. He originally started working as a baggage handler while attending the University of Southern California. After graduating from USC, he continued to work in that capacity for another nine years while he was getting his flight hours and ratings.

Bob says he accumulated most of his flight hours instructing and flying the traffic watch. “I actually used to fly the traffic reporter, Donna Dauer (currently with KFROG 95.1 FM), when she was with a different company. He now flies the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft – mostly for domestic trips.

Bob flies to Maui two to three times per month, and also tries to get layovers in Atlanta a couple of times per month to visit his mother, who is in assisted living.

His normal routes are to the southern United States (Atlanta is Delta’s headquarters), Hawaii, New York and occasionally to the Caribbean.