Take A Tour Of FedEx's Memphis Ramp In 1980
Brian BostickOne weekend in the summer of 1980, my father took me on a tour of FedEx's ramp in Memphis not long after he joined the company as a Dassault Falcon 20 pilot. FedEx was "closed" on weekends during its early years, its entire aircraft fleet parked in Memphis waiting for the workweek to begin -- something almost unthinkable today. The photos he took while we wandered the ramp had been forgotten about until several years ago and although a few have already appeared in previous blogs of mine, they are now presented here in their entirety. These photos allow us to look back at FedEx's fleet during a time when larger aircraft, permitted after airline deregulation in 1977, had just begun to arrive on the scene to help handle FedEx's incredible growth.