My “World” History - Page 11
Article By Captain Warren Vest
Wally Rardon - "Over and Out" After 45 Years
Wally talks about his beloved DC-6, shown in the plaque presented by Bill Yeager.
Wally
Rardon has left a rich legacy with his 45 years of service
to World
Airways. Stories were abundant as co-workers and
friends wished
him well at his retirement party Friday, May 29, at
headquarters. Bill
Yeager and Larry Montford praised Wally's service and
acknowledged that
he will be missed in Flight Operations and around World.
Wally
said he felt like he had worked for four different companies
since his
first day on Aug. 1, 1963. First in Hawaii; then Oakland,
Calif.;
Herndon, Va.; and now Peachtree City. He has special
memories of
the DC-6, which was the first World aircraft he worked in
Hawaii. The
summary of his valuable service to World is probably best
told in his
own words.
Submitted by Wally Rardon on April 28, 2009
Wally Rardon and Wally with wife Cele
(click on above picture to enlarge)
Forty-Five years and 8 months, but who is counting? A lot of
arrivals and departures have taken place in that amount of
time…even a few delays along the way, but it is time to
write another chapter..if there is one to write. The
journey began August 1, 1963 in Honolulu where I had been
discharged from the U.S. Navy and working for Trans
International Airlines in the Dispatch Office. I performed
some menial ramp tasks to earn some “funny money” for World
Airways transit aircraft in my off-time. Anyway, I was
approached by a Senior WOA Ops Rep (the late Robert Higgins)
with a job offer to work fulltime as an Ops Rep – I accepted
the position (after all it was more money and I needed that
desperately). I didn’t know the owner of WOA (Mr. E.J. Daly)
in those days, but soon heard of him…and his ways. One of
the first memo’s I received addressed to all WOA personnel
contained language to the effect that is there wasn’t
compliance to his wishes, “you would be fired with
prejudice”. Now that sounded pretty serious, so I did my
best to walk the “straight and narrow”. Four years passed,
and we had a touch of “islanditis”, so I asked for a
transfer to Oakland, CA (headquarters). The only position
available was inDispatch, so I applied and got the job.
There were some things that I didn’t know about that move –
one was that there would be a lot of direct contact with Mr.
Daly via the telephone. I still remember the first time I
stepped into the Dispatch Office and heard the Dispatcher on
duty say something to the effect, “so you’re the new
guy? I guess you know that there are four Dispatcher’s
employed, and you are the fourth…and we haven’t been able to
retain the fourth Dispatcher more than a few weeks”. It
didn’t take long to discover why longevity was a fleeting
commodity. Early on in my Dispatch career, I was working a
diverting DC-8 into San Francisco since Oakland was
socked-in with fog. I was in contact with the aircraft via
air-ground phone when the landline phone rang. It was Mr.
Daly, and he wanted a briefing on all calls, messages, and
aircraft movements. I informed Mr. Daly that I was working
solo (whichwas normal for that era) and in the middle of
making diversion arrangements. I inquired if I could
complete the diversion coordination, and call him back. I
cannot quote what his response was, but just know that I
stayed on the line and reconsidered my priorities…for then
and for always when dealing with Mr. Daly. When the Captain
of the diverting aircraft landed in San Francisco, he called
and was irate that I had left him in a lurch with no
handling agency to meet him, parking assignment, radio
frequencies, etc. Those early days were interesting, to say
the least. We had four (4) Dispatchers – two day shift and
two night shift. We worked a fleet of DC-6’s operating a
Logair contract for the military. Some of the bases were
located in the snow belts, so winter operations were most
challenging. The late 60’s represented an exciting era for
WOA. It was seen as a phasing-out of propeller aircraft and
a phasing-in of jet aircraft. The Connie’s were being
replaced with the 707’s – WOW! The first Jets in the World
Fleet. I assumed the position of Manager of Dispatch in 1984
working under Warren Vest and Jack Brown. Those days were
interesting in that the Dispatcher’s decided they wanted to
be represented by Transport Worker’s Union. If that wasn’t
enough, the Company fell on “hard times” and 1987 saw the
Company relocate to Sterling, VA under new management.
There were uncertainties as to where the Dispatcher’s would
end up, so the Dispatch Office remained in Oakland (in the
Print Shop Bldg.) until a decision was made for them to
relocate to headquarters in Sterling, VA two years later
(1989). In 1994 I transferred into the Operations Control
environment. After a couple of years I went back into the
Dispatch force as a Flight Planning/Route Specialist. I
served in that capacity until 1999 when I accepted the
position of Manager Flight Operations Technical Services
from which I will be retiring on May 29, 2009. I have worked
with and for a real “cast of characters” over time. Each one
has been interesting and unique in their own way. I don’t
like to single out people, but one that left a real
impression on me was our friend, Ed Martin, who we recently
lost. He was a very valuable resource to me in my current
position. I’ve been asked many times how I survived 45+
years with the same
Company, and my response has been that I have experienced a
half dozen upper management changes, three relocations, and
six different job positions with many personnel changes in
that mix, so it’s been like working for different airlines
in different locations. My employment with World is one that
I would not exchange for anything. It has been a rich
heritage that included making friends with many people
worldwide. World has always felt like “family”. The thing I
will miss most, without doubt, is the people that I’ve
worked with, past and present.
Article My Captain Warren Vest
Left to Right
- Joeseph Welschmeyer, Robert Smullen, Donald Fraim, John
McDonald, Frank Letts
To My World
Rev.2/20/2024