A FORMER airline captain from the United States, elite agent John Lantz of Ray White Remuera exudes an innate calm and composure which both buyers and sellers are drawn to.For a man who was born in Chicago and has flown all around the world for United Airlines, he couldn’t be happier in Auckland selling real estate in the area he knows so intimately.He’s so lucky as he can pinpoint the exact moment his life started to change direction, for the better.It was when the terrorists flew the hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre in New York on that fateful morning in 2001.“All I want in my life now is balance. Everyone’s goals are different. I don’t want to kill myself at work. Life is too short for me,” said the father of two and husband to Katie.Mr Lantz was a long haul flight attendant who trained to become a commercial pilot.“I met my wife when I was flying down here and I was based in Hawaii and we had been talking about moving to New Zealand but it took September 11 for us to re-evaluate our lives.“We had young kids at the time and it shook me up and it changed the whole airline industry.”He recalls he had been up all night, and he was exhausted from flying.“We landed at about 7:30am and I drove home and slept. But Katie woke me and said a plane had hit the buildings and I was in disbelief. ‘What, no?’“I know a pilot would never fly into a building, they would take it somewhere else they would not hit a tower. Right then, I knew there was something wrong.”Soon after the family moved to Auckland, Mr Lantz continued with the horrendous 30-hour commute to work to LA for two years.But now Mr Lantz is an award-winning real estate agent in Auckland and has been with his principal Megan Jaffe at Ray White Remuera for five years.“Megan is a good leader. She has always said to me, 'what can I do to help you achieve your best goals?'"Everyone’s goals are different. I don’t want to kill myself in this job. I don’t want 50 listings. Life is too short for me. I am keeping it all in balance.”
