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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's James Wooten? A woolly good guy?

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James A. Wooten
Wooten, c. 1947
BornOctober 15, 1913
DiedMay 31, 1985 (aged 71)
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
OccupationsAviation and transport executive
Known forScheduled air freight pioneer
President Alaska Airlines (1947–1949)
Operation Magic Carpet
Near East Air Transport
Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

James A. Wooten (October 15, 1913[1] – May 31, 1985) was an American transportation and aviation entrepreneur. After an early career in trucking, he pioneered the first scheduled air freight ever at American Airlines before serving as president of Alaska Airlines during a period of rapid growth following World War II. In that role he initiated Operation Magic Carpet, the 1948–1950 airlift that carried tens of thousands of Yemenite Jews from Aden to the new state of Israel. Wooten completed Magic Carpet with his own charter carrier Near East Air Transport (NEAT), after regulatory issues forced him from Alaska Airlines in 1949. Wooten and NEAT went on to fly an even larger 1950–1951 airlift from Iraq to Israel in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, in which capacity Wooten cooperated with agents from the Israeli clandestine service Mossad LeAliyah Bet to make necessary arrangements. The two airlifts together carried at least 160,000 migrants to Israel. Wooten then became head of the all-cargo airline U. S. Airlines.

A lifelong Baptist, Wooten received a commendation from Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion for his work on behalf of Jewish refugees.[2][3]

American Airlines

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After eleven years in the trucking business, Wooten joined American Airlines in 1943, becoming traffic manager for air freight in 1944.[4] In October 1944, Wooten launched the first scheduled air freight service ever, rolling out American Airlines service between 43 cities, marked by shipping the first full aircraft load of scheduled freight, 5000 lbs of spinach for Kroger, from Los Angeles to Cincinnati in September.[5] In 1946 Wooten became general manager of a new Contract Air Cargo Division at American.[6] But the plane-load freight division was shuttered less than a year later in May 1947, unable to achieve sufficient utilization of its seven Douglas DC-4 freighters.[7]

DC-3 from Wooten era, Spring 1949

Alaska Airlines

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In June 1947, Alaska Airlines, then a small carrier based in Anchorage, named Wooten its president.[8][2] Wooten oversaw an immediate, and profitable, increase in the company's nonscheduled business, dwarfing the carrier's modest scheduled operations. Alaska flew charter flights between Alaska and the Lower 48 as well as globally, much of it freight.[9] The airline acquired surplus United States military transport aircraft, including Douglas DC-3s, DC-4s and C-46s, and took part in the Berlin Airlift.[2][10][11]

Douglas DC-4 boarding at Aden Airport, Operation Magic Carpet, 1950. Note "Near East Air" over the door.

Operation Magic Carpet

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As president of Alaska Airlines, Wooten initiated Operation Magic Carpet, the airlift of Yemenite Jews from Aden to Israel between 16 December 1948 and 24 September 1950.[2][12][13] Alaska Airlines established a base in Asmara, Ethiopia, from which it flew DC-4s and C-46s under contract to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) relief agency. See External links for an excerpt of a JDC film that shows Alaska Airlines DC-4 and C-46 aircraft operating for Magic Carpet.

NEAT C-46 at Umm Rashrash (now known as Eilat) 1950 in Israel

Near East Air Transport

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Extensive nonscheduled operations got Alaska Airlines in trouble with the Civil Aeronautics Board (a now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, provided tight economic regulation of most US commercial air transport) and the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which oversaw airline safety (predecessor to the Federal Aviation Administration). These agencies cracked down in August 1949, levying severe fines, including on Wooten himself.[14] Operation Magic Carpet flying transferred to Wooten-owned Near East Air Transport (NEAT), an Alaska Airlines spinoff.[15] He resigned from Alaska Airlines in October to focus on NEAT.[16] Under Wooten's direction, Alaska Airlines and NEAT between them carried at least 49,000 migrants to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet, including smaller numbers of migrants from Djibouti, Asmara and Aden itself.[17]

Iraqi migrants deplane a DC-4 in Tel Aviv 1951

Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

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In May 1950,[18] NEAT undertook another major airlift, this time of Iraqi Jews to Israel. Wooten made contractual arrangements with the Iraqi government along with two agents of Mossad LeAliyah Bet, a clandestine agency focused on Jewish immigration to Israel. One agent was a NEAT officer, the other posed as one.[19] NEAT flew over 112,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel through August 1951.[20] By the end of the program, NEAT transitioned to the full control of the new Israeli airline, El Al.[21]

Other aviation activities

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In September 1951, Wooten was named to head the scheduled U.S. air freight carrier U. S. Airlines.[22] Wooten was also an officer and chairman of the board of Aerovias Venezuela Europa,[23][1] a scheduled Venezuelan carrier that in 1950 offered service to Paris and Rome[24] and also flew charters from Europe to Israel.[25] He was also the head of Arabian American Airlines and Pilgrimage Air Transport.[1]

Death

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In his later years, with his health declining, he concentrated on business investments. Wooten died at his home in Orlando, Florida, on May 31, 1985, at the age of 71.[2]

See also

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[edit]
  • 1949 video of airlifting Yemenite Jews contains footage of Alaska Airlines C-46 and DC-4 in Aden: TheJDCArchives (4 April 2017). "A Day of Deliverance - Aden (Excerpt) 1949" (video). YouTube. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  • Wooten's recorded account of an Operation Magic Carpet flight: "Historic Sound Recording from 1949 Operation Magic Carpet" (audio). JDC Archives. Retrieved 26 July 2026.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Who's Who in America 1956-1957: Vol 29. Chicago: Marquis. 1956. p. 2844.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "JAMES A. WOOTEN, DIRECTOR OF '49 AIRLIFT OF YEMENI JEWS". The New York Times. 1985-06-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  3. ↑ "James Wooten Dead at 71". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  4. ↑ "Congratulations from A.T." Air Transportation. 5 (2): 42. August 1944. ISSN 0745-5100.
  5. ↑ "1st Full Commercial Load Shipped by AA". American Aviation. 8 (8): 18. 15 September 1944. ISSN 0096-4913.
  6. ↑ "Heads Contract Air Cargo Division". American Aviation. 10 (3): 1. 1 July 1946. ISSN 0096-4913.
  7. ↑ "American Drops CACD Unit In Merging Cargo Services". American Aviation. 10 (23): 17. 1 May 1947. ISSN 0096-4913.
  8. ↑ "Alaska Airlines, Inc.—New President". Commercial and Financial Chronicle. 165 (4603): 1. 16 June 1947. ISSN 0010-2903.
  9. ↑ "Alaska Airlines Expands Nonscheduled Activity". Aviation Week. 48 (11): 49. 15 March 1948. ISSN 0005-2175.
  10. ↑ Goettler, Caitlin (September 22, 2017). "From the archives: How Alaska Airlines evacuated 49,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel 'on the wings of eagles'". Alaska Airlines. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  11. ↑ Satterfield, Archie (1981). The Alaska Airlines Story. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0882401652.
  12. ↑ "James Wooten's Home Movies | JDC Archives". Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  13. ↑ ""Magic Carpet" from Aden". Palestine Post. XXV (6949): 3. 28 February 1949. ISSN 0792-822X – via National Library of Israel.
  14. ↑ "Alaska Fined". Aviation Week. 51 (7): 55. 15 August 1949. ISSN 0005-2175.
  15. ↑ Metzger, Darragh (2017). "Chapter Fifteen". Alaska Over Israel (e-book). Lynnwood (WA): TFA Press. ISBN 9781981854332.
  16. ↑ "Alaska Airlines, Inc.—President Resigns". Commercial and Financial Chronicle. 170 (4849): 1. 24 October 1949. ISSN 0010-2903.
  17. ↑ Schechtman 1961, pp. 70–72.
  18. ↑ Gat 1997, Chapter 6§3.
  19. ↑ Hillel 1987, pp. 240–248.
  20. ↑ Schechtman 1961, pp. 115–118.
  21. ↑ Gat, Moshe (1997). "Chapter 7§3". The Jewish Exodus from Iraq 1948–1951 (e-book). London: Frank Cass. ISBN 071464689X.
  22. ↑ "Personal News". Traffic World. 88 (12): 70. 22 September 1951. ISSN 0041-073X.
  23. ↑ Wager, Walter H. (1951). "International Airline Collaboration in Traffic Pools, Rate-Fixing and Joint Management Agreements - Part II". Journal of Air Law and Commerce. 18 (3): 300. ISSN 0021-8642.
  24. ↑ "Horarios E Itinerarios" (PDF). timetableimages.com. Aerovias Venezuela Europa. May 1950. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Pilgrims Thrilled by First Glimpse of Holy Land". Palestine Post. XXVI (7243): 3. 19 February 1950. ISSN 0792-822X – via National Library of Israel.

Further reading

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Wooten&oldid=1366394328"