Linious "Mac" McGee
| Linious Mac McGee | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1897 Francesville, Indiana |
| Died | June 13, 1988 Reno, Nevada |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Airline entrepreneur, Miner, Truck driver, Dishwasher, Fur buyer |
| Known for | Founder of McGee Airways, Anchorage, Alaska 1932 |
Linious "Mac" McGee (1897 – June 13, 1988) was an Alaskan aviation pioneer and founder of McGee Airways, which, through a long series of mergers and acquisitions became Alaska Airlines.[1][2]
Biography
McGee was born in Francesville, Indiana.[3] In his early years he worked in his grandfather’s bank in a small Montana town, then spent some time in Alaska working in the mines. He returned to Montana and tried homesteading near Livingston, Montana but went broke.[4]
In 1929, in the midst of the Great Depression, with no money or prospects, he sneaked aboard the SS Aleutian steamship and made the trip to Seward, Alaska as a stowaway. He went to Anchorage and worked for the Standard Oil Distributor driving a delivery truck.[4] He then started a fur trading business using dog teams and chartered airplanes to travel throughout the area buying furs.[4] He needed his own airplane in order to reach Alaska's remote villages. In 1931 he partnered with Harvey W. Barnhill,[2][5] an early day Alaska bush pilot to purchase a three-seat Stinson airplane from Varney Airlines in San Francisco.[2] They shipped the plane to Alaska on a steamship and founded Barnhill & McGee Airways in Anchorage.[4]
Although "Mac" learned to fly, his primary interest was in business management and organization.[4] In about 1932, McGee bought Barnhill’s interest in the company, purchased another Stinson airplane[4] and founded McGee Airways,[3] which was one of the first air services in Anchorage. McGee Airways grew into a fleet of seven black and silver Stinson airplanes.[2] In 1934 he sold the company to Star Air Service a rival company in Anchorage for $50,000 and managed the combined operation for several years before going into mining.[2][4] Star Air Service became financially unstable after McGee left, and he was called back to manage the company again.[2][4]
After leaving Star for the last time, he returned to mining, and retired to the "lower 48." He died in Reno, Nevada in 1988.[2][3] McGee Airways became part of Star Air Service which through a long series of mergers and acquisitions became Alaska Airlines in 1944.[4]
References
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Bibliography
- Anchorage Centennial Commission Aviation Committee, "Honoring 100 ALASKA BUSH PILOTS". Anchorage, Alaska, June 24, 1967
- Archie Satterfield, "The Alaska Airlines Story". Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, Alaska, 1981. ISBN 0-88240-165-3
- John P. Bagoy, "Legends & Legacies, Anchorage 1910-1935". 2001, ISBN 1-888125-91-8
- Robert W. Stevens, "Alaskan Aviation History", Polynyas Press, Des Moines, Washington, 1989, ISBN 0-929427-01-7
- McLaren & Dickson, "Roy Dickson 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot", Plane Truth Publishing, Nashville, Tennessee, 2009. ISBN 978-1-932496-72-7
Further reading
- Alaska Airlines: General Information and History, Seattle: Alaska Airlines, 1992.
- Alaska Airlines, Archie Satterfield (1981). The Alaska Airlines Story. (Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Pub. Co., 207 p.). Alaska Airlines—History. ISBN 978-0-88240-164-5
- Robert J. Serling, Character & Characters: The Spirit of Alaska Airlines (Seattle: Documentary Media LLC, 2008), 492 pp., hardback, ISBN 978-1-933245-11-9
- Robert W. Stevens D.D.L. (1989). Alaskan Aviation History. (Des Moines, IA: Polynyas Press, 1095 pp., hardback 2 volume set). ISBN 0-929427-01-7
External links
- Mac McGee - The Beginnings, Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines 75th Anniversary, Air Transport World
- A diamond in the sky: Alaska Airlines celebrates 75 years of service above the clouds., Alaska Business Monthly
- Alaska Airlines 75th Anniversary Web Site, Alaska's World
- Funding Universe, Alaska Air Group, Inc., Company History
- Roy Dickson 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot
- Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
- 1937 Stinson SR9 Gullwing NC18419
- AIRLINES - Business History of Carriers, Kipnotes
- Alaska Air – 75th Anniversary, January 1932, Kipnotes
- Airlines of North America
- History Link.org The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, Alaska Airlines
