December 7 is International Civil Aviation Day. But as the airline industry and airline enthusiasts around the world celebrate the importance of commercial air travel, there’s one major carrier that they’ll never mention: Chesway Global Airlines.
Founded in 1977, Chesway Global was a groundbreaker with its attention-getting 1970s innovations, including:
• The first disco-dancing flight attendants
• The first inflight live concert by the Village People and Donna Summer
• The first wide-body jumbo jets to serve Paducah, Kentucky and Redding/Red Bluff, California
• The first commercial carrier to have the guts to be featured in an airline disaster movie (with Paul McCartney and Wings performing “With a Little Luck” onboard a soon-to-be-hijacked Chesway Global Lockheed L-1011)
Click here to see a retrospective tribute video about this bizarrely groundbreaking airline. Passengers crowded airports around the United States and in major foreign cities as well, decked out in platform shoes and sparkly jumpsuits as they waited in line for hours, just for a chance to fly the decade’s hippest airline.
So why don’t more people recall this legendary international carrier? The thing is, it wasn’t easy to fly Chesway Global.
Because the airline never actually existed.
Chesway Global was the imaginary creation born in my head, when I was a 7th-grade boy obsessed with travel and the glamour of the airline industry. I pulled out all the stops to create an airline that spoke to all of the passions of the day, as well as my own passion for air travel (my equally airline-obsessive best friend JJ, meanwhile, created his own imagine airline, too: Catalines International, which was known for gimmicks like the Hawaiian Kid Center, which basically consisted of strapping children to jungle gyms in the cargo holds of Hawaii-bound jumbo jets).
Neither of us had overly realistic plans for our airlines. But we sure had fun creating them.
Today, I’m an award-winning travel writer and the author of the new book, Prepare for Departure: Notes on a Single Mother, a Misfit Son, Inevitable Mortality and the Enduring Allure of Frequent Flyer Miles. The book — which has been described as both heartbreaking and hilarious — is a memoir that, among other things, explores the roots of wanderlust and the importance of following your dreams. If you’re a travel fanatic, a frequent flyer or an over imaginative misfit still finding your own path in life, this book just might be the next trip you should take (the book also tells the story of the final months of my mother’s life as we revisit our lives together).
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DON’T MISS MY MEMOIR! Prepare for Departure: Notes on a Single Mother, a Misfit Son, Inevitable Mortality and the Enduring Allure of Frequent Flyer Miles
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(If you’re really into unique travel gear, you can also get official Prepare for Departure T-shirts and other branded clothing, so you can impress the flight attendants on your next trip. You can also watch a video about how I had an amazing artist design special Chesway Global sneakers this year – but they’re one of a kind, so don’t even think about getting a pair!)
Today, I see Chesway Global as a symbol of the hopes and dreams of a kid who knew what he loved, even if it didn’t make sense to a lot of other people. Few people understood my passion or my imaginary airline, but that never mattered. In order to be happy, you need to let your dreams fly.
I’m a travel writer, travel blogger and Mexico travel specialist, and I love sharing travel tips to make your next vacation or business trip better. My new memoir was just published: Prepare for Departure: Notes on a Single Mother, a Misfit Son, Inevitable Mortality and the Enduring Allure of Frequent Flyer Miles. Please click and check it out!
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