"Saint Patrick Arriving on Runway Five"

The Catholic News Agency recently reported that the tradition of blessing the fleet of Irish national air carrier, Aer Lingus, is alive and well thanks to the appointment of a new airport chaplain. Their report can be found here. Below is an earlier report from 1953, published in  the Australian press, which lists the litany of Irish saints to whom the individual aircraft were dedicated. I was especially pleased to see two female saints among them. Sadly, the almost perfect safety record which existed at the time this article was published ended on March 24, 1968 when Aer Lingus Flight 712, "Saint Phelim", crashed off the coast of County Wexford, close to the Tuskar Rock Lighthouse, killing all sixty-one souls on board. In such a changing world it is heartening to see the tradition of naming aircraft after Irish saints survive and long may it continue!

LITANY OF IRISH SAINTS MAKES UP EIRE'S AIR FLEET

"St. Patrick arriving on runway five from Dublin."

The announcement came in rich brogue but it was no blarney. Up the runway, as sleek as you please, taxied St. Patrick himself, the pride of the Aer Lingus fleet.

There's a whole litany of Irish saints in the Aer Lingus fleet. Besides St. Patrick, other planes are named for St. Brigid, St. Columcille, St. Malachy, St. Aiden, St. Albert, St. Finnan, St. Colman, St. Laurence O'Toole, St. Brendan, St. Enda, St. Finbar, St. Ita, St. Senan, and St. Flannan.

Fittingly enough, many of these saints were intrepid travellers, carrying on apostolic labors in many parts of Europe.

Founded in 1936, with every plane in its fleet named for a saint, is it any wonder that Aer Lingus holds the world safety record in the airway realm? The good patrons of this airway system must be cocking a watchful eye on their ships. As one of the Aer Lingus men remarked: "It's only right to mark the planes which soar through the heavens after the good ones above."

The name of the patron saint stands out in foot-high lettering—in green paint, of course—on the nose of the plane. More comforting, perhaps, to the air traveller is the strategically located placard bearing the saint's name over the more mundane signs warning, "Fasten safety belt" or "No smoking." This patron saint, of course, is invoked hopefully and anxiously.

Since the first airship, with dedication to an Irish saint, was both blessed and launched 17 years ago, Aer Lingus has won all kinds of air safety awards. Only one casualty has been recorded in the Irish airline history.

Aer Lingus plans to purchase new planes to replace the Douglas C-47's next year as business is on the increase. The planes will be of a different make, but not the guiding patrons.

Southern Cross, Friday 7 August 1953, page 12.

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