Landing in Las Vegas: Commercial Aviation and the Making of a Tourist City

Acknowledgments

xi This book is the culmination of ten years of research and writing about the role of commercial aviation in the growth and development of Las Vegas and personal experience as a former airline pilot based in Las Vegas. It is the product of a master’s thesis and a doctoral dissertation. There are several people I would like to thank who helped make this book possible, but because of spatial constraints I will not be able to mention each one of them, for which I apologize. I am deeply grateful to my dissertation director, John Herron, and to Dennis Merrill, Louis Potts, Max skidmore, and David atkinson at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, all of whom were instrumental in helping me shape and constantly improve this study through their meticulous reading and insightful suggestions. other mentors to whom I am indebted for providing helpful comments are Eugene Moehring , Hal Rothman, and David Wrobel at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I would like to thank Dennis McBride and his staff at the Nevada state Historical Museum for their helpfulness in tracking down early photographs of commercial aviation. similarly, I would like to thank Mark Hall Patton and his staff at the Howard Cannon aviation Museum in Las Vegas for finding and allowing me to include modern images of airliners and of McCarran airport. Many thanks go to Matt Becker, acquisitions editor of the University of Nevada Press, for his instrumental guidance and patience throughout the book-publishing process. Marie force of Delta airlines was very helpful, sending me primary sources on Western air Express from the Delta airlines archival Center. I also would like to thank Clark County directors of aviation Randall Walker and Bob Broadbent, and John Hanks, manager of international marketing for McCarran airport, for their generosity in allowing me to interview them. My sincere thanks go to TWa executive station manager Duane Busch, southwest airlines marketing representative susan Davis, america West airlines marketing manager Jennifer Myers, Beehive Acknowledgments ▶ xii ◀ Acknowledgments Press executive Richard Taylor (former general manager of the Hacienda Hotel), former Hacienda airlines chief pilot Boyd Michael, and Rio Resort and Casino director of hotel operations Wanda Chan for the time they spent with me. I would like to thank Michael Maher of the Nevada Historical society and Peter Michele of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for granting me access to primary source materials from the collections of Nevada senators Patrick McCarran, alan Bible, and Howard Cannon. I would like to thank my colleagues Michael Green, sondra Cosgrove, shirley Johnston, Claytee White, Melise Leech, and sue Kim Chung at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the College of southern Nevada for their continuous support and encouragement throughout this endeavor. also, special thanks go to my colleagues at Missouri Valley College, William Woods University, and Gonzaga University for their endless encouragement . I also am deeply indebted to my students from the College of southern Nevada, William Woods University, Missouri Valley College, and Gonzaga University, who taught me much about life and humility, and inspired me to continue striving to be the best teacher and mentor I can be. finally, I thank my parents, Ken and Donna, my brother, Ken, and my wife, Jennifer, for their support, love, and patience. Without them, this work would not have been possible. Landing in Las Vegas ▶ ...