George Batchelor
 

Noticed in the small print, the passing of another great pioneer of the aviation business RIP

I am sorry to hear of the passing of GB. George really could be the most cussed old git on the face of the earth at times but you had to admire him. For a Navy pilot who started after the war with just one C-47 he built up quite an empire.

He will be sorely missed by several establishments on the north side of MIA airport on Friday nights!

Was this the George Batchelor once involed with Arrow Airlines ?

same person

Was he also behind Capitol Airlines? And Batchair rings a bell? And any others?

I bet there's a hell of a great story to be told.

RIP George.

International Air Leases and Western also.

There was only one George Batchelor. I believe that he started out as a Flight Engineer with the Eighth Army Air Force in England during WW11. Also known as "Second Hand George" to many. I bet he still has the best collection of CL44 parts in the world!

Commiserations to John and the family.

George Batchelor was the President and founder of Arrow Airways, a US Supplemental airline which operated a fleet of DC8s. He never quite recovered from the tragic accident at Gander in the mid 80s, refering with great sorrow to the loss of lives. He contributed a lot to aviation and our industry. To those of us who knew him, he was a fine person and will be missed.

FYI, Jess Stallings was the founder and President of Capitol International Airlines.

Was that the same 'Arrow Air' that operated DC10s through Gatwick for a short while, some 20yrs ago?

Lou Scannon:

It's Jon not John.

wes_wall:

I had it in my mind that George ended up owning around 50% of Capitol. Certainly a lot of the DC-8s were owned by IAL. I can remember meeting an ex-Capitol captain in LAX and he was of the opinion that the Capitol collapse was ultimately caused by George pulling the plug.

Lou Scannon:

I think George also had an interest in TMAC (Transmeridian) which would partly explain the CL-44 connection. What I know for sure is that the collection of spares in the back of the Batchair hangars at MIA was like Aladdin's cave!

JW 411
You are right of course, sorry Jon.
As to the CL44 spares, I don't think George ever experienced the rush on those parts that he was hoping for!

JW411

You are not totally wrong in your recollection. Capitol's stock was mostly privately held by Jess Stallings. After his death, a lot of the stock was sold by the family and George Batchelor became a large holder. Ironic in that the two, Stallings and Batchelor were quite the rivals, and for such a large holding of Capitol stock to be held by such a competitor, made for quite a lot of conversation back then, not to mention the shaking of heads.

He was a philanthrophist with all but his employes.

GlueBall:

I would absolutely agree with that sentiment. I personally ended up $4200 out of pocket from one of his creative Chapter 11 deals.

George once told me that you don't get to be a billionaire by being nice to people!

Spekesoftly

Arrow operated from Denver to Gatwick on behalf of Western Airlines circa 1982 when Western pulled out of the route around Christmas time.

I went out with Western on the DC10 to Denver but came back from Denver to Gatwick on an all white 707 of Arrow with no markings. Most booked passengers travelled back with TWA or alternatives via Chicago.

Funnily enough the flight was enjoyable and food excellent. Mind you there were only about 50 aboard.

I believe the authorities stopped the Arrow / Western flights a day or so later due to some licencing issue.