Originating as a mail carrier, Trans World Airlines became a global passenger service.
(public domain)

When Travel Inspiration Took Flight

There once was a boy named Wally and an airline called TWA. The boy and the airline are gone now.  But just as a jet leaves behind a contrail, a bright cloud-path that draws your gaze across the sky, the boy and the airline left a legacy.

Oh, I see: This is about a different kind of travel inspiration. The way our journeys influence the journeys of others, helping  them navigate their way.

Overcoming Strong Headwinds

One day the boy looked skyward and imagined what it would be like to fly. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, seeing the world, learning other languages.

This was during the Great Depression. Nobody he knew in Ohio was doing such things, and even his teacher doubted the value of learning other languages.

But the boy held fast to his dreams.

Portrait of a young man with big dreams
© McGreevy archives

By 19, Wally was a B-24 captain in World War II. The B-24 had a tendency to blow up and it happened to him over the Pacific. Treading shark-infested water all night, the young man held fast to dreams.

He survived and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Kindred Navigators

Meanwhile in Arizona, a young woman held fast to dreams. Growing up, she traveled the world—through the pages of books.

After the war, these kindred spirits met. Two weeks later, they married. Wally became a pilot for TWA. Forty years later, Helen and Wally had traveled the world and navigated life’s challenges together.

Among their fellow passengers were my siblings and me.

Dad flew everything from early Martin aircraft to 747s.
© McGreevy archives

This Is Your Captain Speaking

The stereotype about parents who are pilots is that they’re never home.

In reality, pilots’ hours were strictly limited so Dad was home a lot.  And I don’t mean presiding from an armchair like the all-knowing, do-little dads on ’50s TV. Our dad was “all in.”

In postwar America, Dad also eschewed macho stereotypes at work.  Unlike the godlike pilots of Hollywood movies—men who uttered lines like I run a tight ship!—Captain “Mac” McGreevy was proud to part of a crew.

Back then, we could tag along behind the scenes, meeting everyone who kept TWA planes in the air: mechanics, meteorologists, flight dispatchers, gate agents, baggage handlers, maintenance workers, flight attendants, and engineers.

Each worked with wide-awake focus so airline passengers could sleep peacefully at 30,000 feet.

“The On-Time Airline,” TWA made flying a special experience, regardless of where one sat.
© McGreevy archives

A Storied Airline

Growing up as part of the TWA experience was special. This was a storied airline that achieved many firsts. First coast-to-coast scheduled flights, first transcontinental non-stops, first airline to have pilots file a flight plan, first to trade piston aircraft for smoother, quieter, roomier, all-weather jets. Even the first to offer fresh coffee and in-flight movies.

TWA was glamorous, too. Your chances of sitting beside a movie legend, even in Economy, were good.

Cary Grant and other screen legends flew TWA and were usually happy to chat.
© McGreevy archives

Hub, Sweet Hub

Every TWA hub was home.

Home, because whatever the airport call letters, wherever the country, Dad had flown there and made friends. Home, because the TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) felt like an extension of our house. Home, because everyone in TWA uniform was a role model, such was the bond we shared and the example they set.

Imagine having family in every city of the world.

Up, Up, and Away!

Each TWA terminal was also a portal to new worlds. The “flight path” of Dad’s TWA years literally broadened our horizons.

France, 196os: traveling with kids was uncommon. Can you spot my family?
© McGreevy archives

Just don’t call it free travel.  I did that once.

“No,” Dad said gently, “Your mother and I earned it.” In an era when homemaking went largely unrecognized as work, it was a telling comment: In every endeavor, Dad saw himself as a partner or crew member, never solo.

That perspective traveled with him. Dad related to every culture he visited. He and Mom introduced us to new languages, foods, and friends, to multifaceted ways of looking at life.

Hard Landings

Dad passed away in 1996. The airline outlived him by only five years. The beautiful TWA Terminal at JFK became an abandoned shell. Each loss amplified our grief.

Oh, but the legacy.

Two generations have followed Dad’s flight path of inspiration—they included pilots, an aviation photographer, a flight attendant, a NASA engineer. Some have pursued international studies and travel writing. Many are connected by friendship or marriage to families around the world.

TWA Today

TWA lives in memory, too. On aviation websites and private Facebook groups, TWA alumni worldwide post about their years of service to “a wonderful airline, where every cabin was first class.” They share TWA stories, post vintage TWA commercials, discuss aircraft, and support a TWA Museum.

How many defunct companies do you know that still inspire such love?

Many TWA alumni and their families collect memorabilia.
© courtesy of Margie McGreevy

Purpose of  Visit: Celebration!

And the abandoned terminal at JFK?  Saved from the wrecking ball, gloriously restored, and given new purpose.

Soon four McGreevy sisters will return home—to the new TWA Hotel at JFK. There we’ll raise a glass to our favorite TWA captain. Given the upcoming TWA Employee Reunion, we plan to share stories with TWA alumni and will then update readers on OIC Moments. Stay tuned.

Until then, “Thank you for flying,” TWA. Your travel inspiration takes flight within me still and helps me navigate my way.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.