Does the Captain of an airplane have the authority to marry people, while in flight?

This is directly from a pilot for a commercial airliner who happens to be sitting next to me:

“Yes I have the authority to marry a couple on my airplane. However my jurisdiction is only in that aircraft and the wedding vows would not be binding anywhere outside of the aircraft.”

I’d rather te pilot concentrate on their primary duty.

Besides, getting married on a Southwest flight to Phoenix isn’t the way Id envisioned my big day.
I’ll wait until we’re on the ground.

Southwest doesn’t do seat assignments so you’d probably find out you were married to a random passenger once you got the paperwork back. “Press 9 if you wish to request a divorce or annulment…”

No. And unless they are ordained clergy or a justice of the peace neither do captains on a ship. It’s a common misconception that they have the authority to marry. And thanks to television and movies most people seem to believe this.

Do you guys mean “no” as in marriages carried out while airborne aren’t acknowledged by the court? Seems obvious that just because you’re a pilot of a transportation craft doesn’t mean you inherently have the power of an ordained clergy, but if you were authorized to marry people and happened to also be a pilot, then would you technically be able to marry people in flight?

Okay, here is a comeback question, concerning my original question. if the captain of an airplane can marry in flight, the the captain of a ship can marry at sea….right? does this make the marriage at sea ALSO non-binding? if so, how many couples are not legally married in the world????

Sea captains cannot. However, I think the sea captain idea came about when sea voyages were months-long and by the time you were back in port, your girlfriend might be “showing.” ;) Nowadays, though, even a long international flight doesn’t take much more than a day.

Laureth, thanks. at least i am clear about Captains at sea. i really thought people could be married at sea. i still have not received a definite answer about airflight marriages and a reference would be nice. thanks Laureth.

Dog, thanks. then, why bother, right? i guess your pilot friend can be considered a “direct reference”. 10–4?

@john65pennington Yup! He thought the question was funny too. He said it is an old tradition but does not know when it started. He has never heard of any Captain actually marrying a couple. It would be interesting to know the history. I would assume that it was long enough ago that a marriage license was not required. Perhaps on those ship voyages that lasted months a couple hundred years ago and when commercial air flights came to be the “Captain” role just transferred?

Either way- great question!

From @laureth‘s link (I love The Straight Dope, thanks for posting the link!):

“So far as I can tell, sea captains in the United States cannot now and have not ever been able to perform marriages at sea or anywhere else, unless they also happen to be recognized ministers or JPs or something.”

“In Fisher vs. Fisher the court ruled a marriage by a ship’s captain valid;...”

“There has been at least one case in which the court recognized a marriage performed by a “minister” [presumably a sea captain at sea when taken in context] who had gotten his credentials by mail order from the Universal Life Church.”

only on Star Trek or other long voyages