The Airline Time Machine Podcast
Tim Haskin has hung around airlines and airports since he was a little kid, and that led to a career with airlines, then in travel technology, time as a private pilot and aircraft owner, an obsession with collecting airline memorabilia, and a deep knowledge of the airline industry and its history.
Those many experiences filled his head with a lot of airline stories, but the people around him are tired of hearing about it. The result was Airline Time Machine and a website, social media presence, and now podcast to provide an outlet for the stories of the airlines, the people, the aircraft, and the airports that contributed to our air travel experience today, with new episodes across a wide range of topics each week!
The Airline Time Machine Podcast
Warren Wheeler and The First Black-owned U.S. Airline
During the first fifty years of air travel in the United States, the airline industry - as a service provider, and as an employer - is largely focused on White people.
Black Americans are usually locked out of many airline jobs until long after the 1940s, and Black households have little exposure to air travel, both because of the high cost, and the segregated nature of many airport facilities.
In a 1976 magazine article I found while doing background work for this podcast episode, a Black airline pilot is quoted saying: “Whites have long ago realized that time is money. Some of us [and he’s referring to Black Americans] are still wondering if it’s safe to ride on trains.”
Then in the early 1960s, a 19-year old from North Carolina opens a small flying school at the airport in Chapel Hill, close to where he grew up. Warren Wheeler loves to fly, he’s determined to make a living doing it, and he’s Black.
Join me for this look at how Warren grew his flight school into the first Black-owned airline in the U.S., while also becoming a jet captain for a major airline, and the impact his work has had across generations.
