The biographies of great people
normally tend to demonstrate the magnitude of their lifetime achievements rather than their
humane qualities. This short biography of Gen. Khademi, while it will illustrate
the exceptional services he rendered his country and people, will
certainly attempt to reveal his profound benevolent characteristics and moral
fiber, some of which were not probably very well known to those other than
the people associated closely with him.
Ali Mohammad Khademi was born in the Iranian southern city
of Jahrom in the historical province of Fars on December 16, 1913. During his
childhood the family life got pretty dour and though. When he was four years
old, he lost his mother. Subsequently, the father and son left for Iranian ancient city of
Esfahan. They lived in Esfahan for several years, where he completed his primary
and high school years. His exceptional intelligence was noticeable from his
years at high school, when he taught mathematics and other subjects to his
classmates. In 1932 after obtaining his high school diploma in mathematics, he
went to Tehran to participate in the entrance examination of military academy, where he
stood first among hundreds of participants. At the end of his three years
studies at military academy he was transferred to the Iranian air force and soon
after became a flight instructor. Around 1940 he began to fly for the Iranian
State Airlines, a semi commercial airline operated by Iranian ministry of post and telegram, which at
the time mainly carried mail, emergency cargo, some government
personnel and occasional paying passengers. While flying as a pilot for the said
airline with the rank of captain, he obtained his Airline Transport Pilot (ATP)
license from British as wells as Iranian Civil Aviation Organization to become
the first
ever Iranian commercial pilot.
Later when Iranian
Airways started operations in 1946, he was one of the first Iranian Air Force
pilot officers who was assigned to fly with the company as first officer and
soon later as a captain. In 1949 he returned to the air force. Prior to
becoming the air force chief of staff in 1958, he held senior training and operational
positions and became the adviser to the armed forces general staff and commandant of the
Air Force Staff College. During his tenure of service, he obtained a pilot
and navigation license from Britain, attended the USAF command and Staff School of the Air
University at Montgomery, Alabama as well as the Air Transport Senior Course in
Washington, DC. In addition to that he never missed senior management seminars
and courses.
Although this short biography will mostly concentrate on one of his most
important achievements between 1962 and 1978 with Iran Air,
it is most appropriate, however, to mention that his management ideas and
valuable contributions to Iranian Air Force that helped this force to become
one of the world’s best, was of utmost significance. 
Before
his assignment to Iran Air, he held several prominent positions in the air
force. He created, for the first time, the Air Force Air Transport Unit, when he
was a colonel. His last position in the force was chief of staff.
In 1962, Gen. Khademi, with the rank of major general, was appointed
managing director of Iran Air. From very beginning, his vision for building and
running a high standard international airline for Iran was very clear, because
since many years prior to that, Khademi always had the dream of founding the ideal airline for his
country.
At the outset, he clearly specified his objectives and
prepared a detailed plan to accomplish them. The most
important item on his agenda was the safety of Iran Air crew and passengers. While he
did not count out the company's high standard service and profitability; but
since by nature, he always had a great respect
for and put high value on human beings lives, therefore, he reiterated that for
him, nothing was ever more important than the airline's safety. As a result of
that during his many years with the company, Iran Air did not have a single
tragic accident. In 1973, three well known journalists who performed
extensive research to write a book called "Destination Disaster", about the
safety of the world's airlines, classified Iran Air as one of the few world’s
safest. It was for the same reason that he put a great importance on the type of
aircraft Iran Air acquired and the excellence of the company’s engineering and
maintenance and flight operations department.
Buying the Boeing
Khademi was greatly concerned about all the company staff overall welfare and
training with the a higher priority for the flight crew and engineering personnel
training. For the first time in the history of
Checking the McDonnell Douglas DC-10
commercial air transport in Iran, a group of most talented young men fresh from the school
were selected and
dispatched to the best schools in the United States to become professional pilots.
Whenever he wanted to make a decision or take an action in relation to the
company, he first and foremost thought as how the most ordinary people
and the traveling public
would
benefit from that. He, therefore, created a situation that made air
travel available to every Iranian from all classes of society and not
limited only to the affluent groups. To make this possible, he introduced a special 40%
discount for the travel of government employees and their families, which was in fact widely expanded
to beyond that group. This initiative made international travel affordable for
almost every Iranian. In a short period of time Iran Air passenger and cargo
traffic increased so significantly that more and more airplanes were needed
every year. His success in building Iran Air to become a world class airline in
a short period of time, amazed the aviation community around the world. At this stage Iran Air was
regarded as the fastest growing airline
in the world.
When he took over the company from Iranian Airways, the
former owned only three turboprop Vickers Viscounts, three DC-6s and three
DC-3s, and 600 employees with a limited network mostly operating within Iran and to
the neighbouring
countries. However, 16 years later the company possessed a fleet of 35 all jet
aircraft of Boeings and Air Buses, a team of 12000 trained personnel and
carried 5 million passengers per year on its routes in Iran and a worldwide from New York to Tokyo,
covering 53 destination in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Far East and Persian Gulf.
For the first time Iranians felt very proud of their national airlines.
Buying the Airbus
Khademi had an exceptional talent in selecting the best people for Iran
Air. He looked out and selected
the most capable and qualified people to work with him. In
the process he was particularly eager to chose young candidates from among the deprived societies and gave
them extensive opportunities to grow within the company.
With one of his most favourite and senior
deputy, Houshang Tajadod
Being extremely factual, Khademi had a flair for and special
interest in numbers. He often surprised his colleagues with quick
calculations without using a calculator. He was an ardent believer in modern
management and at one point he said and believed professional management is superior to
expertise.
Gen. Khademi receiving honorary
doctorate from Dr. B. J. Shell,
President, Northrop University
A large number of Iranian believed Khademi was one of the
most outstanding men Iran had in a long time and some are of the opinion that
had he given the opportunity to run the state instead of the airline he would
have taken the country in a different direction and Iran would have been a
completely different country than it is today. He was a symbol of hard working,
smart and
lots of fun and excitement to be around. No matter how tired he was, he was
always anxious to get to work. His legacy is not just in his individual
accomplishments, but also in his ability to lift the spirit of those around him
to a higher level. He was an extremely brave man and a huge source of inspiration and motivation for
the people working with him. Once he recognized the talent in a person, he would arouse so much confidence in that person to make him a incredibly self-motivated for the rest of his/her life.
General Khademi was appointed the President of the prominent International Air
Transport Association (IATA) during 1970-71.
Gen. Khademi & Knut Hammarskjold, Director
General of IATA,
who very much admired the General and his contribution of ideas
to IATA
He was the first airline chief from
the Middle
East countries to acquire this position and in this role too, he contributed
significantly to the betterment of the international air transport, as admitted by the IATA and other airlines executives.
Khademi was an extremely conscientious and honest person.
In Iran, the head of a national airline, like in most other countries, is
much of a political position and in every country and government politic is a
dirty game. Going through the process of holding a high office and coming out
clean and uncorrupted takes an exceptional personality. And Ali. Mohammad
Khademi was an outstanding example of this. Even
23 years after his departure from office and his death, still no one has attached any dishonesty or misconduct to him
and his military or civil service.
General Khademi loved and was loved by his colleagues who nicknamed
him simply as "Timsar,"
a title normally used before a general’s rank which implies respect. And he
was indeed highly respected, not only by Iran Air employees but by any
Iranian and non-Iranian who knew him. He was regarded and cherished for his
good intentions, works and services to the country. Respecting superiors is a part of Iranian
culture, however, the type of respect he received did not necessarily stemmed from his position; but was
earned because of his knowledge, leadership, humane qualities and as the father of Iran
Air family. This self-made, quick moving man always respected his colleagues’
ideas and opinion. At outset of Iran Air, he carried a pen and
notebook and wrote down employees suggestions and comments to be considered
and gradually acted upon in due course.
In the airline industry, in some ways, Gen. Khademi could be compared with Juan Tripp the famous
American aviation legend and veteran, the Pan American's long time CEO. Tripp gave American
aviation the most of what today Americans are
proud of. Gen. Khademi to Iran and Iran Air was what Juan Trip was to
America and Pan
American, with one distinction that after Trip left Pan Am, the airline
collapsed. But Iran Air could have grown and prospered had the situation not
changed. However, under Khademi’s leadership, Iran Air was so marvelously
engineered and solidly structured so that even now, 24 years later, that this airline
has been subjected to so much
mismanagement and mishandling and despite the fact that company’s most important assets, the majority of its
experienced managers and personnel have left, the organization
is still operative and serving Iranian people.
Khademi was a leadership and management genius. A man ahead
of his time, he never took any nonsense from anyone unless it was beyond his
power. When his colleagues were talking to him, they had to take extra caution
not to make any unfounded statements. Suggestions, presentations and even simple talks
should have been supported by facts and figures. He passionately believed in
facts, figures, data and statistics.
Iran Air was his life; he loved Iran Air and its entire staff
so much that when he was assassinated few months after he left office in
November 1978, one Iran Air manager said,
"In fact, he died on the day he left Iran Air," referring to his
sad and emotional departure from his
beloved airline and people.
There are numerous stories about his humane feelings and
compassion. One day in a directors' meeting he started by saying, "In the
winter, when you are sitting in your offices and you feel so warm that you
pull off your jackets, or in the summer when you feel so cold that you put on your
jackets; think about your colleagues who are working at the open areas of the
airport day and night in the direct heat of the summer and under the freezing cold of
the winter." He never forgot others people, particularly the underdogs.
One of the former Iran Air area managers in Europe was
saying, one day when Gen. Khademi was hospitalized, he and
his wife went to visit him. After few minutes that they stayed with him, he told the
couple that there was an Iranian lady in the room down the corridor who apparently
didn't
have any relatives or friends in this town and he suggested to his visitors
to share the time they have spared to visit him, with her.
A perfect family
Khademi was an ardent nationalist. He was one of the most
ingenious self-made leaders and managers our country had seen in many years. He
was a devoted husband to his wife, Bahieh (Moayed), and loving father to his two daughters,
Mona and Minou and son
Monib. Above all he was a most compassionate, considerate and kindhearted person whose
love and legacy will remain and remembered for ever.
Gen. Khademi, resigned from office as the Chairman
and Managing Director of Iran Air in September 1978 and was brutally
assassinated at his home in north Tehran on November 7, 1978. Certainly, this short
biography will not cover all his
outstanding achievements and superior personality. Therefore, it is very
much hoped that the future book or books about
him and the Iranian airline industry will pay him the tributes this
great man deserves. May his soul rest in peace.
