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Frederick K. Smith

	FREDERICK K. SMITH American Industrialist and Air Cargo Executive
	Frederick Wallace Smith was born in Marks, Mississippi on August 11, 1944. After Vietnam service as a Marine Corp officer and aviator, he incorporated Federal Express in 1971 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Smith's concept for "FedEx" was simple: fast jets devoted to overnight package delivery, and a team of people dedicated to the highest quality of service. The FedEx "hub-and-spoke" distribution method proved successful with the first hub in Memphis, Tennessee. As FedEx grew, the main obstacle to expansion was regulatory limit on the capacity of air taxi aircraft. Smith organized a campaign to deregulate the air freight industry, and in 1977 his effort paid off. With the restrictions lifted, FedEx began buying larger aircraft and expanding its route structure internationally. The purchase of the Flying Tiger Line in 1988 added destinations in Asia and opened routes to Australia and South America. FedEx pioneered the use of information technology in the air freight industry. They were the first express company to use bar-code systems to track package status enroute, and the first to give high-volume customers their own computer terminals to process shipments. With over 600 aircraft by 2000, FedEx became the largest air cargo carrier in the world.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 2000