156 - Jean MERMOZ

Jean MERMOZ L.A.S. “Mermoz,” June 7, 1928, to his grandparents, the GILLETs; 2 pages, in-4 format, on letterhead of the Compagnie générale aéropostale. Expansion of the Aéropostale in South America. He never stops: “ Still on the move from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, with weekly flights across the Andes for our Chilean route—I’ll be launching the first official mail flight in the early days of next month—while in the meantime preparing landing strips and fine-tuning newly delivered aircraft. In short, I’m looking forward to my well-deserved leave, which will give me the joy of seeing you again. Winter is over for you and just beginning for us. The arduous summer journeys become even more grueling during this season. We operate with perfect regularity—a 7½-day journey from Buenos Aires to France—but our ships, which are still making the Atlantic crossing, do not meet our need for speed. We are working hard on the seaplane project, and it is possible that within three to four months, I will make the first transatlantic postal flight. The General Manager, Mr. Daurat, has just arrived from Toulouse; he spoke with me about my long-distance flight plans and announced that Latécoère is preparing an aircraft that would be entrusted to me to attempt a nonstop flight from Toulouse to Buenos Aires as soon as such flights are authorized. If successful, I would be allowed to fly from Paris to New York. Then a seaplane flight from Marseille to Rio de Janeiro. My plans have become theirs, such is their confidence in my luck, and I am happy about that. Now, as soon as my plans move forward, I’ve been asked to promise to accept a position as Operations Director for one of the segments of the existing routes within eighteen months. I’ve agreed in principle. I’ll be approaching thirty—perhaps I’ll get married??—and I’ll have a nice, stable job that will still leave me enough free time to fly as I please. I’ll do a one-month internship after my leave in Toulouse to learn the ins and outs of airline operations—an area I’m familiar with only from a business perspective. My experience is enough for the rest. In any case, it would be abroad—I don’t know where, perhaps here where I’m known.” The Count of Vaulx nominated him for the rosette: “Given my age, I wouldn’t receive it until next year. But Mr. Bouilloux-Lafont is insistent, so…” His mother is moving to Lille. “The thing is, I don’t see myself returning to France permanently just yet. First of all, new airline routes are now being established to the Far East and the Far South, and as far as salary goes, I couldn’t bring myself to settle for earning three or four thousand francs a month. From what Mom tells me, the cost of living is extremely high.” He can save 10,000 to 12,000 francs a year: “What kind of situation would allow me to do that in France right now, at age 27?”… Correspondence, No. 140. Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Later passed down within the family