Monty Sparks - Corporate Pilot

Born in 1947, Mr. Sparks was raised as a ‘service brat’, which meant traveling the world extensively. Mr. Sparks’s father was an Air Force Colonel, constantly on the move. Grade school was in England, high school, Massachusetts and college in Illinois. After college graduation it was ‘like father, like son’ and Mr. Sparks enlisted in the Air Force in 1969.

In 1969, Mr. Sparks attended pilot training at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio. In January of 1970, Colonel Sparks, Mr. Sparks’s father, pinned on his Air Force wings and he was assigned to Travis Air Force Base. There, he flew the C-133 Globemaster, which at the time was the largest airplane in the Air Force inventory. Next, a tour of duty in Southeast Asia, where he flew the C-130 Cargomaster while based in Viet Nam. Mr. Sparks was decorated many times during his combat missions.

After Viet Nam, it was back to the states for an assignment to the Air Force Security Service. Mr. Sparks’s duties in that capacity are still classified information. Eventually, he was reassigned to Travis Air Force base and the C-141 Starlifter. It was a great job with many rewards, including the rescue of Amerasian orphans. Mr. Sparks flew the last C-141 to escape Saigon with those orphans, while under enemy fire. Later, he was called upon to fly a C-141 to the South Pole and land on the polar ice cap at McMurdo Station, a challenge few people can attest to.

While at Travis, Mr. Sparks learned of a start-up airline in Dallas called Southwest. Mr. Sparks was hired in June of 1977. After his service commitment, it was a joy to be a participant in the early struggle to get Southwest going. In addition to “flying for Herb”, Mr. Sparks worked for the Pilot’s Association as Contract Administrator, negotiating labor agreements and representing pilots in labor disputes and accident investigations. He has attended the George Meany Center for Labor Law and is a trained arbitrator.

Mr. Sparks accumulated over 30,000 hours of flight time in his career, his flying skills are highly regarded by the Air Force, Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration. While at Southwest, Mr. Sparks met his wife, Gail Kelly. They have two wonderful sons, Sean and Adam, and they have been married for twenty-five years. They reside in Southlake, Texas, which allows Mr. Sparks to indulge in his passion for boating. Once his ‘call sign’ in the Air Force, “Sparky” now graces the stern of his 42’ Sea Ray.