My god but we’re all getting old.
Today Crocodile Dundee, Paul Hogan, is 69; Jesse Jackson 67; Chevy Chase 65; Sigourney Weaver 59; and Stephanie Zimbalist 52. Even Matt Damon is 38.
Eddie Rickenbacker was born on this date in 1890.
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was a man whose delight in turning the tables on seemingly hopeless odds took him to the top in three distinct fields.
In the daredevil pre-World War I days of automobile racing he became one of this country’s leading drivers, although he had a profound dislike for taking unnecessary risks. He had entered the auto industry as a trainee mechanic and made his first mark servicing the cranky machines of that day.
In World War I he became the nation’s “Ace of Aces” as a military aviator despite the fact that he had joined the Army as a sergeant-driver on Gen. John J. Pershing’s staff.
He was named by Gen. William Mitchell to be chief engineering officer of the fledgling Army Air Corps. His transfer to actual combat flying–in which he shot down 22 German planes and four observation balloons–was complicated not only by his being two years over the pilot age limit of 25, but also because he was neither a college man nor a “gentleman” such as then made up the aristocratic fighter squadrons of the air service.
In the highly competitive airline business, Mr. Rickenbacker was the first man to prove that airlines could be made profitable, and then the first to prove that they could be run without a Government subsidy and kept profitable.
Seems like he might have been the last man to prove that airlines could be made profitable too.
Southwest Airlines is profitable. They fly only one kind of airplane, the Boeing 737, which was developed in the 1970s. That means the development costs have been amortized by Boeing so they can build aircraft on extremely small margins, making money selling them to Southwest at really low prices. For the price of a single Boeing 777, for example, Southwest can buy and operate five or six 737s.
Because the airline only flies one type of aircraft, every crew member is trained and certified on every plane in the fleet, giving the airline enormous flexibility. The same goes for the ground crew, which needs only a single set of tools because they’re only servicing one type of aircraft. Only one inventory of spare parts needs to be kept, and mechanics need only be trained on one airplane.
Southwest flies direct routes from airports that were, before Southwest moved in, nearly abandoned. When Southwest moved into Chicago’s Midway airport, the airport authority basically gave the gates to the airline for free. At the time, gates at O’Hare were selling for more than a million dollars each.
I literally bumped into Jesse Jackson at Ben’s Chili Bowl in D.C. last weekend. He’s a tall guy, and really looks great for 67.
I saw Mr. Jackson outside my office at the State Department about 10 years ago. Impressive looking guy.
But I’d really rather see Sigourney Weaver.