Friday, November 22, 2019

Pioneers In Aviation

Another blogger posted some old photos, so I guess I am copying her, since I haven't been out and about recently.
You may click on photo to enlarge

Above is a very small graduating class ...of a very small airline back in 1965.
The two men in the picture are pretty interesting guys. Lamar Muse 1923-2007 on the right (president of this little carrier)  was the co-founder of today's Southwest Airlines. He was a  long time executive with several airlines, and even started his own with his name on the planes, but I think Southwest was his crowning achievement. If you have a chance read his obituary in the NY Times.HERE Yes, he really did give away bottles of whiskey to attract passengers.

The other gentleman is Bud Herring 1923-2011 (VP). Bud being a nickname. He too had a long airline career, joining Muse as a VP at Southwest in the early days. I think the most interesting thing about him is that he landed at Omaha Beach on D day...and survived. 

Is this class graduating from Southwest Airlines? NO, it is Central Airlines that no longer exists and you won't read about it in either of their obituaries. Why do I have this picture and know all of this, because that is me front row right :)

7 comments:

  1. Dearest Janey,
    WOW, what an incredible story that is!
    So many milestones reached by those people, and foremost the survival of Omaha Beach... That is more impressive then the whiskey saga, however it seems to have paid off nicely.
    And then, to underline it all, a very cute flight attendant, named Janey... That sure is aviation history!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  2. That is really interesting Janey, I had no idea that you had been a flight attendant, and as Mariette mentions you looked really cute.

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  3. Yes, I love old photos too :)) Those memories are so nice to look at, we were looking so young and pretty at those old days. At least we still have the photos to proove that!

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  4. Love looking at old black and white photos Janey. You look gorgeous here, a wee bit like Jaqueline Kennedy 💙

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  5. Unbelievable And Very Well Written - Had No Idea Where You Were Going With This - WoW

    Cheers

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  6. Very cool photo with interesting info. I used to work for Braniff Airlines in Houston many years ago, and my dad and one of my brothers worked for AA.

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