William "Tison" McInstosh has passed away

[Gilles Hudicourt]

William "Tison" McIntosh, my uncle, was born in Haiti, to a Scot father,
William McIntosh senior, and to Anita Antoine, a Lebanese mother. His
parents met in Les Cayes, where McIntosh senior had come in 1913 as a
government hired engineer/architect to rebuild Les Cayes. He never left.
He built most buildings that are standing in downtown Les Cayes today.
Anita, his mother had been abandoned as a baby at a Haitian family's home
in Les Cayes where she grew up. McIntosh senior, died when Tison was a
teenager, leaving his mother with four children. In 1939, right after
graduation from St-Louis de Gonsague, needing a job to help his mother out,
he found a job with Pan American Airways, which at the time, served Haiti
with seaplanes called "Clippers" that docked like ships at the old casino
wharf, near what later became Rond Point. When World War II broke out, the
US government sponsored the pavement, and construction of Bowen Field
(until then a grass landing strip left over from the American occupation)
at a bottom of Delmas as a stop-over point for military aircraft being
ferried to Europe, via Trinidad, Brazil and Africa. Bowen field was
illuminated, had instrument landing approaches for landing in bad weather
and was open 24 hours a day throughout the war. Pan Am moved it's
operations there and for decades, was practically the only company that
linked Haiti to the rest of the World. At that time, the newly formed
Haitian Air Force purchased several then brand new DC-3 and founded COHATA
(Compagnie Haitienne de Transport Aérien), that did scheduled flights
between Haiti and its provinces. Soon, Tison McIntosh became Pam
American's manager. In the 1960's, Haiti moved into the jet age with the
building of the International Airport, Aeroport Francois Duvalier (may he
rot in hell). Pan American's Boeing 707 became the first jet to land in
Haiti. The management of the new airport was contracted out to Pan Am, and
Tison McIntosh, as Pan Am's director, became the airport manager, job he
held until the contract was given to American Airlines in 1979 with Henry
Bayard as manager. During those two decades, he never collected one penny
from the salary that Duvalier offered him for the job but lived instead
solely on his Pan Am salary. When the Bayard family had a fallout with
Duvalier, he was called back again as temporary manager until a suitable
manager could be found. He remained with Pam Am until he retired. When
Duvalier was overthrown, he was called out one last time from retirement by
the CNG to manage the airport until a suitable person could be found. The
deterioration of the airport that we see today tells plenty about the
handle that Tison kept on the airport while he was there. He always
succeeded in maintaining a direct and personal contact with Francois
Duvalier first and then Jean-Claude and never hesitated in picking up his
phone to call in a complaint about some macoute misbehaving at the airport.
He did the same when some Big Macoute, Minister or other sent him notes
asking him to hire a protege. Under Tison, there were no zombies, no
unqualified people, no extra people on the payroll. That doesn't seem like
much, but it was unheard of and unique under Duvalier. In the nineteen
eighties, Tison fired Rene Preval who had been hired as some sort of
division manager by his predecessor, Henry Bayard. I had the opportunity
of meeting Preval a few times before he was elected and had a good feeling
about him. When Rene Preval got elected in 1995, wanting to hear so wise
words and not knowing they knew each other, I went and asked Tison his
opinion on the President-elect. "What I think of him ? I fired him for
incompetence, that's what I think of him" was his reply.
Tison was witness to every major historical event that took place in Haiti
in the past 60 years. He saw and met all heads of state and dignitaries
that visited Haiti, he saw all ex-Presidents leave, exiles come back. He
knew everyone and everything about Haitian society and I often sought his
opinion on Haitian matters. I don't ever remember him being wrong about
anything he ever said. He also takes with him all 50 years of an unwritten
Haitian Aviation history. I will miss him.

Tison died of cancer in his Freres home last Thursday afternoon and his
funeral will be held at St-Claire's chapel in Freres on Tuesday morning.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Corrected version

much, but it was unheard of and unique under Duvalier. Under Tison, the
airport, run as a corporation, turned a profit which financed airport
renovation, extentions and modernisation. No government funds were needed
to do such work as rhe runway extention, the airport extention, to buy new
navigation equipment. Today, the airport is in the red.

[jnmau...@gmail.com]

information well put, and very passionate of this inspirational man. I am Jean-Maurice Duchatellier i am the son of Maurice Duchatellier. I'd like to get some information from you so if you'd like please contact at jnmau...@gmail.com