Executive Flight

Burning the Candle at both ends has been old stuff among top execs for some time. In the upper echelons of business, there's nothing particularly new or exciting in completing almost a full day of work in, say, Chicago, and spending the evening at a conference in New York. But, until recently, there was something very wrong with this way of life.

What was wrong was Hypertension, Nervous Collapse and Ulcers.

The busy business man can usually renew his depleted energies in the P.M. by either pipe-and-slippering it at the family hearthstone or relaxing in some quiet bistro. There's nothing relaxing, however, about working all day in Chicago and all night in New York. There wasn't, that is, until United Air Lines took pity on the poor tycoon and inaugurated its Executive Flight.

Basically, this is simply a special flight, restricted to male passengers, that leaves Chicago's Midway airport at 5 P.M. and lands in New York two hours and forty-five minutes later. But, in practice, the "Executive" is much more than just a means of getting from one place to another. The tired exec finds it a delightful interlude between important affairs, a combination hearthstone and bistro designed to restore the inner man. The special flight has made such a hit that United now gives West Coast VIPs a break by setting up the same arrangement between L.A. and Frisco.

What makes the "Executive" the only thing of its kind in the world is the atmosphere of masculine informality that prevails. After a day in a Chicago office, a man wants to pull off his shoes, shed his jacket and loosen his necktie. On the Executive Flight, he can do just that without feeling like a social outcast. There are no female passengers to raise pencilled eyebrows in disapproval. The only girls aboard are a couple of unobtrusive stewardesses who encourage him to relax and even provide him with a pair of comfortable knitted slippers.

If he pulls out a hidden stogie or a pipe, she won't smile icily and ask him to drop it out the window – she'll light it for him. And, as a veteran of many cigarless airflights, our friend finds this a welcome innovation.

When the luxury airliner has been in the ozone about forty-five minutes, dinner is served. And before dinner, to sharpen his appetite, the flying executive has his choice of a Martini, an Old Fashioned or Scotch-on-the-rocks – served in a cruet that holds a potent four ounces. He finds this plenty, because a little liquor goes a long way when you're sitting in a pressurized cabin in the sky. Dinner and strong coffee fortify him for the business stratagems ahead.

By this time, the male camaraderie is in full swing. Mellowed by food and drink, the exec may join his fellow passengers in a friendly game of poker. As he deals out the cards, he tells a party joke or two that evoke raucous laughter and more jokes from his new friends. If he prefers, he may bypass the poker and check the latest market quotations available in the late papers, put aboard just before takeoff.

Before he knows it, the New York skyline comes into view. He has one last cigar or cigarette, straightens his tie, puts on his shoes and jacket, and picks up his briefcase. Then the airliner lands and he steps out, relaxed and refreshed, ready for Big Deals. And, as a matter of fact, ready for a little fun when the Big Deals are consummated.

The "Executive" leaves Chicago's Midway Airport daily at 5 P.M. and arrives in New York less than three hours later. During the flight, passengers can smoke or drink, play cards or read stock reports in papers put aboard just before departure.

The "Executive" leaves Chicago's Midway Airport daily at 5 P.M. and arrives in New York less than three hours later. During the flight, passengers can smoke or drink, play cards or read stock reports in papers put aboard just before departure.

Above, left, a pretty hostess helps an exec slip his tired feet into comfortable slipper-socks.

Below, passengers enjoy a dinner of filet mignon, with salad, green beans, potatoes, coffee and dessert before setting down at La Guardia in the east.