 RE:
A
Sentinel Of Seaboard
Geoffrey,
All too often we forget the people and companies
that set the foundation for the growth and success of air cargo.
Letting the Seaboard sign fall into disrepair
is an indication of this. I, for one, will gladly send the NY Port Authority
the money to fix the sign. It is just that
we all need to respect the people and companies that have preceded us.
Bill Boesch
Editor's Note: In 2009 at JFK Seaboard stalwarts had
a reunion. Bill Boesch in brown jacket in photo above.
Dear Geoffrey,
Over the last year or more, I have often come
across "historical" stories about, and references to Seaboard
World Airways, which is all well and good, but NO-ONE ever mentions the
fact that this name is relatively "recent", and that the original
name was Seaboard and Western Airlines. Why is that, I wonder?
I recall seeing SWA C-46s, and later CL-44s,
at FRA in the late '50s & early '60s emblazoned with this name the
length of the fuselage.
Best Wishes,
Martin
Martin Bleasdale
freighterdata.aero
 Dear
Martin,
Thanks for writing.
I recall seeing a SWA Container a few years
back sitting by the Lufthansa Cargo Hangar at JFK, and then spent the
rest of the day thinking about that great airline with Jackson and Mahoney
and Boesch and Martin, and the photographer Cyril Morris who took all
these wonderful Paris Air Show pictures in 1974, including the immortal
20-footer on a truck bed in traffic near the Arc.
But to your questions . . .
Seaboard World Airlines was always the name,
to my knowledge, after Western was dropped April 4, 1961.
The name of the airline in either format was
a lot of letters, and the length alone probably would have tipped the
sign over, even in nice weather (Vince “Seaboard Foreign Legion”
Chabrol wrote about its being tipped into the snow at JFK. Vince, BTW,
is still at JFK Cargo with his own GSSA).
But let’s go back for a moment and enjoy
some pictures Cyril took at the Paris Air Show in 1974 on assignment from
SWA P/R guru Steve Moran.
Also gaze for a moment at SWA Headquarters at
Federal Circle Idelwild/JFK, which was demolished to make a parking lot.
Thanks for getting me started all over again
about SWA.
The memories are sweeter than wine.
Geoffrey
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