10
APRIL2016
AMERICANWAY
We’d love tohearwhatyou
thinkaboutourairlineand
ourservice. Visit
aa.com/social
tostay
up todateon the latest
developmentsandbenefits
fromAmericanAirlines.
NotyetanAAdvantage
member?Youcansignup
todayon
aa.com/aadvantage
.
Preserving
Our
Legacy
PERSPECTIVE
U
nlessyouhavea love
foraviation, youmight
notknow thatCharles
Lindberghwasoneof the
firstpilots forAmerican
Airlines.Ninetyyearsago thismonth,
Lindberghstowedabagofmail inhisDH-4
biplaneand tookoff fromChicago forSt.
Louis.Hewasflying forRobertsonAircraft
Corporation,whichwas later incorporated
intoAmericanAirways. In1934, itwas
renamedAmericanAirlines.
I’vebeenaroundAmerican for two-
thirdsof its90years, including38years
asanemployee. Istarted in1956when
mygirlfriend,who laterbecamemywife,
wasaReservationsagent inSyracuse,
NewYork, and toldme thatAmericanwas
agreatplace towork. Iapplied, andwas
thefirstperson inSyracuse tobehiredoff
thestreetasa ticketagent. Ieventually
workedasaReservationssupervisor
and latermoved toSales.WhenIretired
inNovemberof 1993, itonly took two
monthsbeforemywife toldme thatshe
marriedme forbetterorworse,butnot for
lunchand thatIbetterfindsomething to
do.TheC.R.SmithMuseumhadrecently
opened inFortWorth,Texas, soIasked if
theyneededhelp, andI’vebeenshowing
upeveryFridaymorningsince.
Volunteeringatthemuseumstirsup
a lotofmemories, likemeetingPresident
Truman inthe late ’50s–wehadanice
chataboutmanythings,butnopolitics.
TherewasonemonthwhenIflew30,001
miles,andIrememberwhenAmerican
enteredtheJetAge in1959withtheBoeing
707.Syracusedidn’tgetthe707regularly
forseveralyears,but fromtimetotimebad
weatherwoulddivertflights fromIdlewild
Airport(knowntodayasJFK).Onenight,
five707sdivertedtoSyracuse.Whenthey
departedthenextday, Ihadtoclimbon
topof thesnowbankstobesurethewings
wouldclearthesnow.
Ialsoget toseeearliererasofaviation,
like theoneandonlyDouglasDC-3. It’sa
permanentexhibitat themuseumand it
remindsmeofa timebefore those707s
and theJetAge. I’veexperienceda lot
duringmyyearswithAmerican, andhave
seenfirsthanda lotofchange.And itnever
getsold.
Iamalwayshappy torelivemy
memorieswithourguests, so ifyou’reever
passing throughFortWorthonaFriday,
pleasestopbyandsayhello.Until then,
onbehalfof thosewho’veworked for
Americanover the last90years, thankyou
forflyingwithus today.
DONSMITH
RetiredAmericanAirlines employee and
C.R. SmithMuseum volunteer
When theydeparted
thenextday, Ihad to
climbon topof the
snowbanks tobesure
thewingswouldclear
thesnow.
