An Ace in the Airlines

The airline business we have today was not built overnight.  In this episode I cover how the Ace of Aces himself Eddie Rickenbacker help build an small fledgling airline into a major world class airline by the end of The Best Aerospace Era.

Transcript

Paula 0:00

For the Best Aerospace Era this is mansplaining. Here is the host Anthony L. Sealey

0:09

Welcome aerospace enthusiasts. If you're familiar with the Mansplaining podcast, then you know, I like to talk about Eddie Rickenbacker. The first episode was about his time as an Ace fighter pilot during the war to end All Wars. And how in the 1920s, he helped select the location for around 25 airports throughout the country. Now in this episode, I want to talk about Rickenbacker's time in the airline business. Let's get into that. We start in the automobile industry in the 1920s. It was highly competitive with established brands like Ford Packard and Cadillac vying for their share of the market. More brands joined like Chrysler, Pontiac and Cord during the decade. Now, car companies like these laid the foundation for the manufacturing powerhouse that the US became. Less than two decades later, the US will produce more aircraft than every other world power during World War ii. That's because of the American workforce, but that's a story for another time. Another car company in the fray of the competition in the 1920s was the Rickenbacker car company, ran by Eddie Rickenbacker himself. His car company lost out to competition in the 1920s. But Rickenbacker was not one to quit on his business capabilities. By the 1930s, he moved on to a new and exciting business venture. The airline industry. Rickenbacker was a man with many interests, and he was always on the move. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, around 1900, Rickenbacker was fascinated by automobiles. He loved the engineering of these machines from the engine to the axles. As a teenager, Rickenbacker fell in love with speed and racing. He became a racing driver. Pushing these early race cars, dangerously around dirt tracks became his new prime activity. He won races throughout the country. Up until the late 19 teens. This is when aviation grabbed his attention. He became a fighter pilot with 26 confirmed kills during the war to end all wars. After the war, he turned his attention back to cars He dreamed of owning and operating a car company of his own. The Rickenbacker Motor Company manufactured mid-level luxury market cars in Detroit, Michigan from 1922 to 1927, I believe Buick and Oldsmobile were his most comparable competition. This was not his only business venture. Rickenbacker's Affection for Racing was so strong that he owned and operated the most famous raceway in the world. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1927 to 1945. But that's enough cars in racing. This is an aerospace channel. Let's get to some airplanes. In the first episode, he said, build it here. I profiled Rickenbacker's time as a fighter pilot over the skies of the Great War. He piloted the Newport 28 and the Spad 13 fighter planes. In the 1920s as a persuasive businessman, his ventures took him all over the country. He chose to ride along in airplanes with mail carriers to get from one city to the next, occasionally flying the planes himself. During his travels, he advocated to city officials and other businessmen to establish airports. This is one reason why there are many airports today that were founded in the 1920s, and according to Rickenbacker himself, he selected sites for about 25 of them. He was not the only aviation legend doing this at the time, though. You may have heard the name Charles Lindberg. He was also selecting the sites for airports. Ad Rickenbacker helped lay the foundation and advocated for the future of aviation and the airline business. By the 1930s, it was time to put his money where his mouth was by jumping in with both feet, and join this new promising industry. There were a few ways to make money in aviation in the 1920s and early 1930s, either legally or illegally. There were air show performances by barnstormers transporting passengers. Crop, dusting farm fields or advertising businesses, just like those ads you see on the beach with those airplanes flying banners across the sky. Also smuggling or rather bootlegging beer and whiskey in the air was a way to avoid the feds during prohibition. That's a fascinating topic for another day, but the staple of the airline business was the air mail contracts. This is where Rickenbacker first got involved with the air transportation business. A former squadron made of his from the 94th Air Pursuit Squadron and the Hat in the Ring Gang named Reed Chambers founded Florida Airways Chambers, and Rickenbacker formed a partnership Florida Airways won air mail contracts to fly routes around the state of Florida, using just one Curtis Lark. Chambers and Rickenbacker work to expand its fleet and its mail routes into Atlanta, Georgia, and up the east coast. Despite their partnership that Rickenbacker Motor Company and Florida Airways went out of business in the late 1920s, unlike Florida Airways, the Air Mail Act of 1925. Kept many of the airlines in the air during the Great Depression, however, that changed in 1934. Now let's look at 1934. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. Notorious criminals, Bonnie and Clyde were killed An 8.0 magnitude earthquake hitting Nepal, destroying entire towns, and killing 10,000. China is in the midst of a civil war between communists and nationalist forces. Adolf Hitler became the undisputed leader of Nazi Germany. After taking out all of his political rivals from the military and the government, in what was known as the night of the long knives, major droughts and dust storms persisted in the Midwest. This devastated farm fields. It led many thousands to starve. The unemployment rate was nearly 22%. This is not a very positive list I have for 1934, But also in 1934, the US government canceled the air mill contracts that were given to the airlines. The explanation for this was corruption, along with the objective to break up aircraft manufacturers from the airline business, or maybe they just didn't contribute enough to FDRs campaign. Whatever the real reason was, this had a devastating effect on the airline industry and caused many airlines to go out of business. This also put more Americans out of the job. By this time, Eddie Rickenbacker was a prominent figure in the industry serving as Vice President of American Airways until 1933. Before becoming Vice President of North American, after encouraging GM to buy a major stake in the company. After taking away the air mail contracts from the airlines, it was announced that the Army Air Service would take over the air mail operation. Rickenbacker shared his thoughts on the matter and he did not hold back. He once said, this is legalized murder. A reporter asked, can I quote you on that, Eddie? You're damn right. You can. Airline pilots were experienced in long haul flights across the country with thousands of hours in the air to their credit. Also, they flew airplanes like the Lockheed Vega, the Ford Tri Motor, and the Curtis Condor, equipped with the latest instruments to navigate harsh weather conditions. Newer and better airplanes from manufacturers like Boeing and Douglas were on order that would better serve the airline's needs. I'll get to one of those airplanes in a minute. Now, you may think the Army pilots could handle this. You may think there's not much difference between one pilot to another for perspective, a truck driver and a NASCAR driver, a both paid to drive, but you can't take a truck driver out of an 18 wheeler and put them in a NASCAR and say, go race the Daytona 500. That's not gonna end well. You would've thought Rickenbacker who served in the Army Signal Corps and was now in the airline industry would've been someone the government should have consulted with first. In a display of defiance. To the government takeover of the air mail service, Rickenbacker and Vice president of TWA Jack Frye flew along with three pilots in the brand new Douglas DC-2 on a transcontinental flight. This flight from Los Angeles to Newark took 13 hours and two minutes in the air. This flight broke a record, and the DC-2 maintained 230 miles an hour in the air. It also proved that the DC-2 was the best airplane on earth. They were not just racing. To break this record, Rickenbacker made it a point to carry mail along on this flight in land before midnight, because February 20th was the day the Army took over the Air mail operations. This record breaking flight with the DC-2, which was a precursor to the iconic DC-3, along with Rickenbacker's defiant words against the government's air mail decision. Caught the attention of Washington. Rickenbacker was scheduled to make a speech on NBC after landing. However, he asserts in his words NBC had been ordered to cancel my speech entirely. My remarks the night before, mild as they had been in comparison to what I had really wanted to say, had proved to be too controversial. President Roosevelt had the last word that day. Now whether FDR himself or someone in his cabinet orchestrated the silence, Rickenbacker is unclear, but obviously Rickenbacker believed they did. Years before the air mail contract of 1925, the government through the post office operated the mail routes. According to Rickenbacker, the toll had been great, flying obsolete equipment and taking off and landing in fields a little more than cow pastures. 31 of the first 40 pilots hired by the post office, had sacrificed their lives, trying to get the mail through. So how did it go when the US Army Air Service took over the air mail routes in 1934? Well, here's how that went. Just after that historic transcontinental and last mail delivery by a private airline in the first few weeks, the Army Air Service suffered 66 crashes. 10 army pilots were killed. The government's takeover in the air mail decision of 1934 was a disaster. The US Army Air Service simply did not have the right equipment or the pilots with the right training to handle the air mail service. If only they had listened to Rickenbacker, Doolittle Lindberg, and other aviation legends. After this terrible episode that lasted only around four months. FDR opened air mail contracts back again to the airlines with the Air Mail Act of 1934, but it only opened the contracts back to companies that did not have contracts with them prior. Was this outta spite on his part? I am not quite sure. In order to get around this stipulation though, existing airline companies simply rebranded themselves. For example, Eastern Air Transport became Eastern Airlines to get around this and obtain back the air mail contracts that they once had before. And Eastern Airlines is where Eddie Rickenbacker cemented his airline legacy. Eastern was a small company that was in bad shape financially, but it served the Eastern region of the United States by far the most populous region in the country. Rickenbacker correctly predicted that there would be a major demand for people wanting to fly from the northeast cities like New York to Florida. Have you ever heard the term snowbirds? Eastern Airlines was available, and Rickenbacker wanted to run an airline of his own, so he became gm. In his biography, he said, of Eastern. It only flew 3,358 route miles with fewer than 500 employees. Its equipment consisted of a mismatch assortment of planes. Salaries were low, and so was morale. The only cities eastern served were Miami, Atlanta, New York, new Orleans, and Chicago. In 1934, Eastern Airlines lost a million and a half, most likely in part because of the government air Mill takeover. Despite this Rickenbacker and his first full year in charge of Eastern in 1935, the company made a profit, albeit a small one of$38,000. How did he turn Eastern around? It wasn't new airplanes or a new direction for the company. The reason is the same as it has for all airlines. Past and present is the employees. In the next few years. An outside investor tried to buy Eastern Airlines and Oust Rickenbacker as gm. That investor was John Hertz. Yes. That John Hurtz of the Hertz Rental Car Company. And he was no friend of Eddie Rickenbacker after some stressful corporate maneuvering where Rickenbacker used his skills of persuasion, he found some financial backers. His team led a successful bid to buy Eastern Airlines from General Motors. The amount was three and a half million. That's worth 80.4 million in today's money. Once again, inflation is terrible. Rickenbacker became president and part owner of Eastern Airlines in 1938. Now, how did Rickenbacker turn this small fledgling airline into one of the Big four world class airlines? This is how. First he made himself visible to the employees. He traveled all over the system and engaged with them from the pilots to the mechanics, to the ramp agents. As I said before, he's a man who's always on the move. He said I traveled at night and worked in the various stations by day. I could always take time off to talk with the personnel and watch them in action. I would work with my people as I talked with them. I changed tires and loaded luggage. I also checked people in at the counter. Now this is how you lead a company. He goes on to say. I never boarded a plane or visited a company operation without introducing myself, visiting with my people, listening to their problems and suggestions. Now from my own perspective, I remember the GM of the first airline that I worked at. Did this. I appreciated him coming out, talking with us, and even throwing some bags. He even talked with us about stuff outside of work. Rickenbacker learned that by and large, the workforce of Eastern was not focused or motivated because they were not making enough to get by. Some workers even had second jobs. This needed to be addressed first. In order to have a focused and motivated workforce. Rickenbacker believed this was a safety issue as well, and safety is paramount for the airlines. A major safety feature of Eastern Airlines, wasn't its equipment, but its workforce. He said of his workforce. Their individual contentment with their jobs added up to a positive asset to the company. For one of the greatest safety devices in the world is a free state of mind, a happy state of mind on the part of those at the controls. Despite this and better flight instruments flying was still not near as safe back then as it is today. I will get back to this in a moment. Rickenbacker also worked to establish opportunities for workers to grow their careers within the company. The airline business is a very trying and stressful industry. For those employed from the bottom up, mental health is vital. Next, Rickenbacker work to advertise Eastern to businesses. Expanded its network with more routes, westward and implemented meteorological forecasting. By 1940, Eastern Airlines had increased its workforce to around 2000, and served over 360,000 passengers with a profit of over one and a half million. That's worth over 20 million in today's money. Now let's get to some airplanes, shall we? Eastern flew the Curtis Condor. That's a very interesting looking airliner, biplane. I suggest you look at a picture of it. More capable aircraft like the DC-2, like I mentioned earlier. And the iconic DC-3 were also implemented into its fleet with these planes. Eastern's Fleet became known as the Great Silver Fleet. Speaking of the DC-3, I need to mention flight number 21 that Rickenbacker boarded in February, 1941. This was a famous flight that crashed near the Atlanta Airport. I don't usually like to talk about fatal plane crashes, but this one hits close to home, literally close to home for me because the flight crashed down the street from my grandmother's house. Now. This is long before I was born and more than a decade that my father was even born. Although badly injured, Rickenbacker survived. Unfortunately, eight of the 16 onboard did not. This was major news at the time. The CEO of an airline nearly died in a plane crash. Can you imagine that happening a day Now let's talk about another early icon of aviation that Lockheed Constellation, Rickenbacker, liked this new aircraft because it had a longer range and can carry more passengers. However, there was a problem. TWA Trans World Airlines led by another savvy businessman named Howard Hughes. You may have heard of him, obtained exclusive rights to the first batch of this aircraft. Now I have referred to Rickenbacker as being a persuasive businessman Here is an example of that. He met with Howard Hughes and said to him, Howard. Are you sure you want to be the only airline using this new plane? If you had an accident with it, An accident is possible. It would have an adverse effect on your line exclusively. But if we flew this plane too, then any repercussions, would be spread out. And that's how Eastern obtained the Lockheed Constellation or Connie. Also, how many people can say they negotiated with Howard Hughes and came away with what they wanted? Howard Hughes probably has a different take on this. Rickenbacker oversaw Eastern Airlines through the 1950s, expanding nationally and internationally and into the jet age. Although he was not a fan of the de Havelin comet, one of the first jet airliners, he thought it had some dangerous flaws after taking a ride in one. Eastern would later incorporate jet airliners like the DC-8 and the Boeing 720. When Rickenbacker resigned from Eastern in 1963, it was a world class company, one of the most iconic airliners from the best aerospace era, along with TWA Pan Am and Delta. Rickenbacker had this to say in his biography after he resigned from Eastern at the age of 73. I remember it like it was yesterday in 1935, Eastern Airlines was a struggling little company, pioneering in a new and untried field. It became a giant in the industry. We built it through hard work, dedication, and faith in the future of America. I will do a more comprehensive profile of Eastern Airlines in the future, similar to my episode, A Century in the Air. Did you know the Eastern Airline was later run by a former astronaut? Do you know which one? Until then, thank you for listening and remember, there's always a light at the end of the runway.

Paula 27:43

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