Francis "Gus" A. Conner & Geneva M. Conner
Description
Francis Augustus “Gus” Conner was born in 1924 in rural Quitman, GA. When World War II came about, he joined the US Navy in the hope of becoming a naval aviator, but he was instead assigned as a cook.
Conner hung on to his dream after the war and pursued it in Miami, FL where he became a pilot and started his first airline. Beginning with four pilots, one secretary, and two leased Douglas DC-3s, he first operated as an international contract cargo carrier between New York, Miami, and Caracas, Venezuela. After incorporating his business as Conner Air Lines, Conner expanded his horizons to include flights to points throughout the United States, the West Indies, and Central and South America. Conner was one of the pioneers of government contractors using civilian aircraft to transport military supplies and personnel on scheduled routes around the world.
Conner was an astute and tight-lipped businessman who worked long hours, benefited from several government contracts, and plowed his profits back into new airplanes. He even spent his free time in the hangar office, using a bottle of Ballentine's scotch to draw pilots and technicians from his and other companies to an evening happy hour. The men would trade airport gossip and stories set in places like Barranquilla, Merida, and San Juan. Tippling had the usual effect of making everyone more voluble – except Conner, who mostly just listened.
Conner’s relation to the Federal Government, and the FAA in particular, became stormier over the years, as the administration saw his airline as an anachronism which had to go. FAA inspections started to look like harassment on his operation, which Conner claimed wa due to his refusal to transport drugs for the CIA during the Contras flights he performed.
In August 1992, Conner was arrested in confused circumstances, while parked in his car with two loaded guns in front of the Miami office of the DEA. Reports vary as to why Conner was there, and if any excessive force was used by the agents on the 68-year old man. In any case, a few days later, Gus Conner died of a heart attack.
His wife of many years, Geneva M. Conner, took over at the helm of his many aviation businesses: Geneva Crew Services, F.A. Conner Airways, Conner Air Lines, Conner Air Cargo, and Conner Aircraft, Inc. However, as early as 1 September 1992, the FAA grounded Conner Air Lines permanently, allegedly for safety reasons, and it went out of business.
Commandos Owned
Last edited: 24/11/2023