It's very often allowed on Southwest on the ground if you have kids, particularly if you are doing a stopover. If you have young kids, book your next flight with a stop (where you stay on the plane), and ask nicely, you should be able to get a cool picture of the family in the cockpit. We've done it twice, my son loved it.

I'm brown and did it in 2005. The pilot and FA's were very nice!

In the planewatcher community it's very common to ask if you can talk to the pilots after you land. Apparently they're usually amenable to chat with plane bluffs!

As a kid in the early 80s, I used to love going to the cockpit. British Airways had a "Junior Jet Club" [1,2] for children, figureheaded by Captain Leo Budd, a Concorde pilot (amazing the names/things that stay in memory after 35 years!). Club members had a logbook [3] and on each flight you'd give the book to a flight attendant who would have the Captain complete and sign it. There were awards after you travelled so many miles. Every single time we'd get an invite to the flight deck mid-flight, usually over the alps, on the way to/from the Mediterranean.

I've been fortunate enough to fly first class on many top tier airlines since then but nothing will ever beat the thrill of those early flights being led to the cockpit by a flight attendant, bursting with anticipation, ready to meet the pilots and see where in the world we were flying, through the front window of the plane.

[1] - https://www.boeing.com/boeing100/stories/2016/march/junior-j... [2] - https://www.adventuresinfamilyland.com/blast-from-the-past-b... [3] - http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/2005/02/boac_junior_jet.p...

Should have clarified we ask to visit the cockpit after landing. Usually we wait until almost everyone has deboarded, then we ask the purser if it’s possible. If the pilot hasn’t rushed off to another flight we can almost always get a few minutes to chat.

It is on the ground, no longer allowed in the air.

It was disallowed in-flight in the USA before 2000 (by Air Canada at least). I was on an Air Canada flight where I was invited to the cockpit fir a visit but only while in Canadian airspace.

We were boarding a Qatar Airways flight when the pilot literally came out of nowhere and took my three year old to see the cockpit.

I was like, could I have my child back please? While she enjoyed herself, I'm not sure she understood what the cockpit was for...

Things are way laxer in other parts of the world.

I haven't ever done it in flight, but every time I've asked (30something dude traveling alone, no kids or anything) I've been accommodated, both in the US and overseas. It never felt 'weird' and I was never given the impression that it wasn't allowed or in any way unusual.

You can also ask to tour the tower at SFO as well. but you need to call ahead and jump through hurdles to get to the right people apparently.

Outside the USA most airlines permit it except to/from USA. My kid loved it.