Giant Dutch airline founder who changed European travel forever passes at 93
A towering figure in aviation history‚ this Dutch entrepreneur created Europes first low-cost airline and transformed cargo transport. His innovative approach helped millions of people access air travel
J Martin Schröder‚ who passed away this fall at 93 was a real game-changer in European flying. Standing near seven-feet tall this Dutch pioneer started his company in a tiny wood-shed at Schiphol airport back in 58ʼ
His company MAC (later Martinair) began with just 5 people including his wife Tineke who made in-flight meals and managed the crew (she picked all the plane designs too). The companys first plane was a small 10-seat de Havilland Dove that did local trips and pulled ad-banners behind it
In the early 60s Schröder made a super-smart move: he found out how to switch planes between moving cargo and people real quick. Some folks werent happy about animal smells in their seats but his idea was pure gold; this led to a big break during the Gulf War when he got a sweet deal with the US military
The company grew fast and did lots of cool stuff:
- First Dutch flights to sunny Mallorca
- Moved 3 million people yearly in its best time
- Got big planes like Boeing 747s
- Mixed cargo and people flights across the globe
- Had a special red paint job made by his friend
Schröder was pretty tight with the Dutch royal family – even taught the current King Willem-Alexander how to fly. He was super hands-on; flying his own plane to fix broken-down aircraft and sleeping in his office to catch BBC news for business chances
Sadly two crashes happened on his watch: one in Sri Lanka about 50 years ago and another in Portugal in 92ʼ. The company kept going till 2011 when KLM bought it out. Even at 80 Schröder tried to become an astronaut; that didnt work but shows his never-give-up spirit
