BALTIMORE — Southwest Airlines greeted Spirit Airlines Capt. Jon Jackson with a water cannon salute upon his arrival at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Saturday, after the cancellation of what was to have been his retirement flight. Spirit Airlines ceased operations the same day after running out of cash and failing to secure rescue funding.

Jackson had been scheduled to fly his final flight into Baltimore on Saturday. Instead, he boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore as a passenger.

Aboard the Southwest flight, Chris Jackson, a Southwest pilot and Jackson's son, told the crew that the trip would have been his father's retirement flight. A dispatcher at Baltimore-Washington International Airport arranged for firetrucks to greet the Southwest aircraft with a water cannon salute upon landing, and Southwest staff organized the tribute over the aircraft when it arrived.

Jackson was met with cheers, applause, and a bottle of champagne when he walked off the jet bridge. "Very overwhelming, I can't thank you all enough. As Spirit goes down this is a sad day, and you guys made it incredible, so thank you so much." Jackson posed for pictures with his son and the Southwest flight crew before leaving the airport.

In a Facebook post, Southwest Airlines said: "It was a powerful reminder of the aviation community's ability to show respect, compassion, and solidarity when it matters most. Above all, this moment was about honoring a fellow aviator. Congratulations, and thank you for your service in the skies, Capt Jackson."

Spirit Airlines announced that after 34 years in business it had started an orderly wind-down of its operations, effective immediately. Before its collapse, the carrier operated hundreds of daily flights and employed around 17,000 people. The airline had struggled to make a deal with its creditors and secure funding after filing for bankruptcy twice in recent years. The Trump administration floated taking a 90% stake in the carrier to prevent its collapse, but bondholders rebelled against the proposed arrangement.