James "Jim" H. Jackson
SAE Chairman
1981-1982 and 1973-1974
Twice Chairman of the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Air Cargo Forum Committee, Jim served on the Executive Committee of SAE and then TIACA for thirty-four years as the biennial event evolved into the air cargo industry’s premier showcase. Jim is a founding member of TIACA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jim is recognized throughout the industry for his solutions to air cargo logistics problems, technical contributions and handling innovations that have been accepted worldwide. An advocate of international standardization and industry cooperation, he simultaneously chaired both the SAE Air Cargo committee (AGE-2A) and the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Unit Load Devices Board during the air carrier industry’s transition to jet and then wide-body aircraft. Under his leadership and coordination with other key standards organizations the baseline technical standards for air cargo unit load devices (ULD), aircraft cargo handling systems, aircraft ground equipment and handling were developed and globally recognized. He concurrently guided an early decade of the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) Air Cargo and Ground Equipment technical committee.
Jim received SAE’s Franklin W. Kolk Air Transportation Progress Award in 2002 recognizing his broad contributions and leadership in air cargo transportation.
Jim served in the U.S. Army during both World War II and the Korean Conflict, received his degree from The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and joined American Airlines where, over a 38-year career, he held management roles in line cargo operations, aircraft and cargo ground equipment development, aircraft specification and configuration, and cargo market planning. He retired from American in 1993.