Howard Hughs vs Juan Trippe

What drove Trippe? A fury that the future was always being hijacked by people with smaller ideas--by his first partners who did not want to expand airmail routes; by nations that protected flag carriers with subsidies; by the elitists who regarded flight, like luxury liners, as a privilege that could be enjoyed only by the few; by the cartel operators who rigged prices. The democratization he effected was as real as Henry Ford's. Any day, 900 Boeing 747s are in the air, carrying close to 500,000 people and 300,000 tons of cargo. It would not be happening without the "plotter" in "The Aviator."

Of course, he did get a major leg up with a government grant of monopoly on the Key West-Havana mail route. Interesting guy, tho.

Click here: OpinionJournal - Extra