Juan Trippe
Juan Terry Trippe (June 27, 1899 – April 3, 1981) was an American commercial aviation pioneer, entrepreneur and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the iconic airlines of the 20th century. He was involved in the introduction of the Sikorsky S-42, which opened trans-Pacific airline travel, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner which introduced cabin pressurization to airline operations, the Boeing 707 which started a new era in low cost jet transportation, and the Boeing 747 jumbo jets. Trippe's signing of the 747 contract coincided with the 50th anniversary of Boeing.[2] He also founded InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.[3]
Juan Trippe
April 3, 1981 (aged 81)
4
John Trippe (great-great-grandfather)
Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1941)
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy (1966).svg){kind=small}
Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumous, 1985)
Early life and education[edit]
Trippe was born in Sea Bright, New Jersey, on June 27, 1899, the great-great-grandson of Lieutenant John Trippe, captain of the USS Vixen.[4] Because he was named "Juan", he is widely assumed to have been of Hispanic descent, but his family was actually Northern European in ancestry and settled in Maryland in 1664. He was named after Juanita Terry, the Venezuelan wife of his great uncle.[5] Trippe attended the Bovea School and graduated from The Hill School in 1917.[4]
He enrolled at Yale University but left to apply for flight training with the United States Navy when the United States entered World War I. After completing training in June 1918, he was designated as a Naval Aviator and was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy Reserve.[6][7] However, the end of World War I precluded him from flying in combat. Demobilized from active duty, he returned to Yale, graduating in 1921. While there, he was a member of St. Anthony Hall and of the Skull and Bones society. Trippe was treasurer at the first meeting of the National Intercollegiate Flying Association in 1920.[8]
Personal life[edit]
Trippe was a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland and president of the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York, from 1940 to 1944.
Trippe married Elizabeth "Betty" Stettinius Trippe (1904–1983), the sister of United States Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr., in 1928.[12] They had four children.[13][14] The couple remained married until Trippe's death in 1981.[15]
Death and legacy[edit]
Trippe suffered a stroke in September 1980, which forced him to cut back on his workload;[5] he died after suffering a second stroke at his New York City home on April 3, 1981, at the age of 81.[4] He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[16]
In 1970, Juan Trippe was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[17]
In 1985, Trippe was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by United States President Ronald Reagan.[16] Trippe was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1990.[18] An endowed chair at the Yale University School of Management is the "Juan Trippe Professor in the Practice of International Trade, Finance, and Business".[19]
In 1982, Trippe was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[20]
Trippe is widely regarded as the last of the greatest aviation pioneers along with industry titans such as American Airlines' C. R. Smith, United Airlines' William A. "Pat" Patterson, Eastern Airlines' Eddie Rickenbacker, TWA's Howard Hughes and Delta Air Lines' Collett E. Woolman. Under his control, Pan American World Airways became the premier international airline in the world. He is also credited as playing an instrumental role in the development of an intercontinental version of the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 as Trippe's determination to get a jet that could cross the Atlantic was instrumental not only in Douglas developing a long-range DC-8, but also Boeing's famed 707 as they had to redesign it in order to stay competitive with Douglas.
In popular culture[edit]
A character based on Trippe was played by Pat O'Brien in Ray Enright's 1936 film The China Clipper. Trippe was played by Alec Baldwin in Martin Scorsese's 2004 film The Aviator.