The oldest and most mature of the two Hackett brothers, Joe is a highly responsible but mildly neurotic and compulsively neat pilot who owns the one-plane airline Sandpiper Air, on Nantucket Island. The Hacketts moved to Nantucket when both Brian and Joe were children, and from an early age Joe always had a dream to become a pilot. Shortly thereafter, a new family moved in next door to the Hacketts, and their daughter Helen Chappel would soon become a lifelong friend to both Brian and Joe. Throughout school Joe was an excellent athlete and star pitcher for the Siasconset High baseball team. It was during this time that Joe met and fell in love with Carol.