3 ms·

Less of a coincidence when flying was expensive enough to be reserved for the "jet set".

mikeash 12y ago
No doubt. Interestingly, this meeting didn't happen on a jet and probably predates the term "jet set", as the first jet airliner had only entered service the year before. The IBM salesman thinks it might have been a DC-6: http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/107637/1/oh034rbs.pdf http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/107637/1/oh034rbs... Interesting little note from that: "I learned later that he would be sitting in his office in New York and he'd suddenly wonder how things were getting along in L.A. He would tell his secretary, "I'm going to L.A." He would go to the airport, just walk on a plane, and fly out without a shaving kit, pajamas or anything. Then he would take a look around and catch another plane back." I doubt many company presidents are taking that sort of approach anymore.
- gress 12y ago
  I know of British Airways executives who flew from London to New York on Concorde only to attend meetings from which they returned again the same day without having left the airport.
  - maccard 12y ago
    Granted, I'm not in the same boat as exec's, but I'm a student and have had dealings with people from other universities in the UK (I'm irish), and I have flown, met them in airport hotels, and flown home same day or first flight following morning.
    - dasil003 12y ago
      Yeah but New York => LA is over 5 hours. Is there any flight from Ireland to the UK that takes more than 1:30?
    - seabee 12y ago
      Flying UK-Ireland takes less time than most intercity train journeys, so that is not surprising.
  - vidarh 12y ago
    I've done Heathrow -> Dulles -> meeting in Sterling, VA -> Dulles -> Heathrow same day. It's not fun, but it's also not that unusual, even without the Concorde. UK -> US east coast works reasonably well that way, given that the flight is 5-6 hours, and 5 hour time difference, so you can get on a flight early morning from London, arrive early morning at the east coast, have your meeting and catch an evening flight back out which'll arrive back in the UK in the morning local time.
- jonknee 12y ago
  > I doubt many company presidents are taking that sort of approach anymore. That's why they buy a jet with company money now.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    Sure, but how often do they just decide, on a lark, to go check out how operations are going at one of their sites on the other side of the country?
    - jonknee 12y ago
      It depends on the executive, but I would say it's not uncommon. Perhaps not on a lark, but because something pops up at the last minute. This portion of Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography comes to mind: > Early in his tenure, Cook was told of a problem with one of Apple's Chinese suppliers. "This is really bad", he said. "Someone should really be in China driving this." 30 minutes later he looked at an operations executive sitting at the table and unemotionally asked, "What are you still doing here?" The executive stood up, drove directly to San Francisco Airport, and bought a ticket to China.
      - mikeash 12y ago
        That's not even remotely similar.
    - keithpeter 12y ago
      Known as 'management by walking about' in the UK and fairly common (small, densely populated country).
- mason55 12y ago
  We do NY -> LA -> meeting -> red eye back to NY on a "regular" basis. It works out great if you're able to sleep on a plane.

No doubt. Interestingly, this meeting didn't happen on a jet and probably predates the term "jet set", as the first jet airliner had only entered service the year before. The IBM salesman thinks it might have been a DC-6: http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/107637/1/oh034rbs.pdf http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/107637/1/oh034rbs... Interesting little note from that: "I learned later that he would be sitting in his office in New York and he'd suddenly wonder how things were getting along in L.A. He would tell his secretary, "I'm going to L.A." He would go to the airport, just walk on a plane, and fly out without a shaving kit, pajamas or anything. Then he would take a look around and catch another plane back." I doubt many company presidents are taking that sort of approach anymore.

gress 12y ago
I know of British Airways executives who flew from London to New York on Concorde only to attend meetings from which they returned again the same day without having left the airport.
- maccard 12y ago
  Granted, I'm not in the same boat as exec's, but I'm a student and have had dealings with people from other universities in the UK (I'm irish), and I have flown, met them in airport hotels, and flown home same day or first flight following morning.
  - dasil003 12y ago
    Yeah but New York => LA is over 5 hours. Is there any flight from Ireland to the UK that takes more than 1:30?
  - seabee 12y ago
    Flying UK-Ireland takes less time than most intercity train journeys, so that is not surprising.
- vidarh 12y ago
  I've done Heathrow -> Dulles -> meeting in Sterling, VA -> Dulles -> Heathrow same day. It's not fun, but it's also not that unusual, even without the Concorde. UK -> US east coast works reasonably well that way, given that the flight is 5-6 hours, and 5 hour time difference, so you can get on a flight early morning from London, arrive early morning at the east coast, have your meeting and catch an evening flight back out which'll arrive back in the UK in the morning local time.
jonknee 12y ago
> I doubt many company presidents are taking that sort of approach anymore. That's why they buy a jet with company money now.
- mikeash 12y ago
  Sure, but how often do they just decide, on a lark, to go check out how operations are going at one of their sites on the other side of the country?
  - jonknee 12y ago
    It depends on the executive, but I would say it's not uncommon. Perhaps not on a lark, but because something pops up at the last minute. This portion of Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography comes to mind: > Early in his tenure, Cook was told of a problem with one of Apple's Chinese suppliers. "This is really bad", he said. "Someone should really be in China driving this." 30 minutes later he looked at an operations executive sitting at the table and unemotionally asked, "What are you still doing here?" The executive stood up, drove directly to San Francisco Airport, and bought a ticket to China.
    - mikeash 12y ago
      That's not even remotely similar.
  - keithpeter 12y ago
    Known as 'management by walking about' in the UK and fairly common (small, densely populated country).
mason55 12y ago
We do NY -> LA -> meeting -> red eye back to NY on a "regular" basis. It works out great if you're able to sleep on a plane.