Great story Terry. Sure wish more corporations valued their employees as Airstream does.
Sherry
Bill and Linda said
10:30 AM Jun 21, 2014
One of Airstream’s biggest challenges was being bought and sold more than once – among other things. At one time it was owned by Beatrice Foods; not the best corporate culture fit. Thor Industries, who you may know owns a number of RV brands now, was founded with the purchase of Airstream. But because of a long line of reasons it has survived and is still is, IMO, the finest “tag trailer” if you look at the Classic model.
The most interesting aspect of the Airstream story to me is that Airstream made a 5th wheel.But, according to some long-time Airstreamers, in spite of the fact Airstream Land Yacht Harbors (parks) accepted the Airstream Motorhome, some never accepted the 5th wheel although it looked exactly like an Airstream; at least the first ones did. That is Airstream lore so to speak.But maybe the Airstream 5er was way before its time. I wish they had continued building a true Airstream 5th wheel for a lot of reasons.
The Airstream Motorhome was probably more accepted due to its use by NASA as the both the Apollo Crew Containment vehicle and also as the NASA Transfer Van to move the astronauts to the launch pad. (Wasn’t used in the beginning of the Mercury Program but became the standard later on.)
But because of a long line of reasons it has survived and has a nice following.There is a huge Airstream dealer just east of the Tampa RV Show if any one might be interested.
southernvagabond said
10:54 AM Jun 21, 2014
Thanks for sharing. It is great to see an American manufacturer doing so well and appreciating the fact their employees are the backbone of the company.
kb0zke said
07:59 PM Jun 21, 2014
We toured the Airstream factory a few years ago when we were researching. Some of those pictures look like ones we could have taken if we had been allowed to take pictures. If we had gone with a towable it would have been an Airstream.
PIEERE said
08:11 PM Jun 21, 2014
This is awesome. It would be nice if more companies respected thier employees.
Specifically, this is a story I found on the internet today that is about Airstream. Thought a number of folks here might enjoy it.
Small-town Ohio, NASA and the American RV
Terry
Sherry
One of Airstream’s biggest challenges was being bought and sold more than once – among other things. At one time it was owned by Beatrice Foods; not the best corporate culture fit. Thor Industries, who you may know owns a number of RV brands now, was founded with the purchase of Airstream. But because of a long line of reasons it has survived and is still is, IMO, the finest “tag trailer” if you look at the Classic model.
The most interesting aspect of the Airstream story to me is that Airstream made a 5th wheel. But, according to some long-time Airstreamers, in spite of the fact Airstream Land Yacht Harbors (parks) accepted the Airstream Motorhome, some never accepted the 5th wheel although it looked exactly like an Airstream; at least the first ones did. That is Airstream lore so to speak. But maybe the Airstream 5er was way before its time. I wish they had continued building a true Airstream 5th wheel for a lot of reasons.
The Airstream Motorhome was probably more accepted due to its use by NASA as the both the Apollo Crew Containment vehicle and also as the NASA Transfer Van to move the astronauts to the launch pad. (Wasn’t used in the beginning of the Mercury Program but became the standard later on.)
But because of a long line of reasons it has survived and has a nice following. There is a huge Airstream dealer just east of the Tampa RV Show if any one might be interested.