William John "Jack" Frye (March 18, 1904 - February 3, 1959) was an aviation pioneer in the airline industry. Frye founded Standard Air Lines which eventually took him into a merger with

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

(TWA) where he became president. Frye is credited for turning TWA into a world-class airline during his tenure as president from 1934 to 1947.

Early life

Frye was born in Sweetwater, Oklahoma on March 18, 1904 to cattle ranchers William and Nellie Frye. He had a younger brother, Donald, and a younger sister, Ople. After his mother Nellie's death in 1912, the family moved to

Wheeler, Texas Wheeler is a city, and the county seat of Wheeler County, Texas, United States, located on the eastern border of the Texas Panhandle. The population was last reported at 1,592 in the 2010 census. History Both the town of Wheeler and Wheeler Count ...

to live with grandparents. Frye enlisted in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in 1921, and was discharged as a corporal in 1922. In 1922, Frye left for California with his brother Don.

Aviation career

Frye began flying lessons in 1923 with instructor Burdett Fuller at Burdett Field in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Frye joined Fuller in the "13 Black Cats", an aviation stunt team for the movie industry. Frye became good friends with two student pilots at Fuller's, Walter Hamilton and Paul E. Richter. Frye, Hamilton, and Richter pooled their money together and formed Aero Corporation of California in 1925. They bought out Fuller's flight school and did everything from flight instruction, banner towing, charter flights and crop dusting. Hamilton, who had been a mechanic for the Duesenberg Motors Company, ran their aircraft maintenance operation. Frye held Transport Pilot Certificate #933 and Richter held Transport Pilot Certificate #501. In 1926, Los Angeles aerial police ticketed Frye for flying less than 1,000 feet above the city. Frye, Richter, and Hamilton's new goal was to enter the scheduled airline business, so on February 3, 1926, Standard Air Lines was formed as a subsidiary of Aero Corp. Standard Air Lines initially flew single engine Fokker F-7 aircraft from

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

with a stop in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. Within a year, they extended their route to

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

. In 1929, Standard purchased

Fokker F-10 The Fokker F-10 was an enlarged development of the Fokker F.VII airliner, built in the late 1920s by the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America. It carried 12 passengers, four more than the F.VII, and had a larger wing and more powerful engines ...

A aircraft. Frye and Richter took one of their stock tri-motors and set a commercial aircraft altitude record of 22,680 ft.

Western Air Express Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and N ...

bought controlling interest of Aero Corp in early 1930, but still operated Standard as a separate airline. When Western Air Express merged with

Transcontinental Air Transport Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA. Keys enlisted the help of Charles Lindbergh to design a transcontinental network t ...

(TAT) in July 1930 to form

Transcontinental and Western Air Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

(T&WA), the government forced Western to sell Standard to

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

as part of the deal due to its southern route into

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. However, Frye elected to stay with T&WA and was made Vice President of Operations, Richter became Vice President of Western Division, and Hamilton became Maintenance Superintendent. After the reorganization caused by the

Air Mail Scandal The Air Mail scandal, also known as the Air Mail fiasco, is the name that the American press gave to the political scandal resulting from a 1934 congressional investigation of the awarding of contracts to certain airlines to carry airmail and t ...

of 1934, Frye became president of T&WA in 1934. T&WA eventually became

(TWA) and was known as " The Airline Run by Flyers". The airline suffered near disaster after its reputation was hurt in 1931 when Notre Dame coach

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

died on a T&WA

tri-motor airplane. In 1932 Jack Frye, representing T&WA, sought a better aircraft and in response to this and other requests,

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

developed the Douglas DC-1 Transport twin. In February 1934, Jack Frye and

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

, set a transcontinental record of 13 hours and 4 minutes flying the Douglas DC-1 in a publicity stunt for the new airliner. In May 1934, Frye broke his record by flying a

Northrop Gamma The Northrop Gamma was a single-engine all-metal monoplane cargo aircraft used in the 1930s. Towards the end of its service life, it was developed into the A-17 light bomber. Design and development The Gamma was a further development of the su ...

from Los Angeles to

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

in an elapsed time of 11 hours and 31 minutes. In 1937, Frye and Richter founded "Conquistadors del Cielo" (Conquerors of the Sky), an annual gathering of top airline executives at a

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. In 1939, desiring greater control of their airline, Frye and Richter approached industrialist and film producer

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

to buy into the company. (Jack Frye stated in an April 6, 1954 issue of ''Life'' magazine that it was Hughes who approached him in regard to investments.) Hughes' interest was airplanes, and his initial involvement was the development and financing of the

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

for TWA. On April 17, 1944, Frye set his third transcontinental record when he and Hughes flew the Constellation prototype on a record 6 hour 58 minute flight from Los Angeles to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Marriage

Frye married Debbie Greer in

Tijuana, Mexico Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

in 1924; they divorced in 1932. In 1932, Frye married Regine (Jean) LaCoste in Ravena, Missouri, they divorced in 1939. In January 1941, he married Helen Varner Vanderbilt who was previously married to

Cornelius Vanderbilt IV Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (April 30, 1898July 7, 1974) was a newspaper publisher, journalist, author, and military officer. He was an outcast of high society, and was disinherited by his parents when he became a newspaper publisher. He desired to ...

. Frye and Helen divorced in January 1950. In July 1950, Frye married his fourth wife in Hollywood, FL, New York showgirl and actress Emily Nevada Smith. They had a daughter in 1953.

Later life

After a dispute with Hughes in 1946, Frye resigned as president of TWA on February 21, 1947. Frye was very well connected in Washington D.C., and soon landed a coveted prize as director of one of the German corporations seized during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in this case the U.S. residual of

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

. On April 14, 1947, he was elected Chairman of the Board of General Aniline and Film Corp, and its subsidiaries General Dyestuffs Corporation, and

Ansco Ansco was the brand name of a photographic company based in Binghamton, New York, which produced photographic films, papers and cameras from the mid-19th century until the 1980s. In the late 1880s, ANSCO's predecessor, Anthony and Scovill, bo ...

. Frye remained President of General Aniline until 1955, when the

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

administration unwound these holdings through the

Office of Alien Property Custodian The Office of Alien Property Custodian was an office within the government of the United States during World War I and again during World War II, serving as a custodian to property that belonged to US enemies. The office was created in 1917 by E ...

. In 1955, Frye formed his own aircraft manufacturing company, the Frye Corporation. In December 1956,

Grumman Aircraft The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

agreed to produce the Frye Safari, a four-engine, Short Takeoff & Landing (STOL) airlifter, if Frye could find financing. Ernst Zindel, who designed the

Junkers Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German Aeros ...

, was retained as an assistant. However, the project was cancelled.

Death and honors

On February 3, 1959, while driving home after work in Tucson, Arizona, Fyre was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. It was exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. The death received limited coverage, due to the deaths of famous musicians

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

, and

The Big Bopper Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American singer, songwriter and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and " White Lightning", the latter of wh ...

in a plane crash on the same day. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now rests in

. Frye received the

Medal for Merit The Medal for Merit was, during the period it was awarded, the highest civilian decoration of the United States. It was awarded by the President of the United States to civilians who "distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct i ...

for wartime contributions as a civilian in December 1946. In 2006, Frye was inducted into the

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

at the

San Diego Air & Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

. Frye was elected into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

in 1992. In

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

's 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, '' The Aviator'', Frye was portrayed by actor

Danny Huston Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an Italian-born American actor and film director. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and the half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston. He is known for h ...

References

External links

Davis-Monthan Jack Frye ProfileNational Aviation Hall of FameJack Frye Aviation PioneerJack and Helen Frye StoryTWA Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Jack Kansas City metropolitan area Trans World Airlines people 1904 births 1959 deaths Commercial aviators Airline founders Aviation pioneers American aviation businesspeople American airline chief executives Aviators from Texas Aviators from Oklahoma National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees