At the Milton P. Crenshaw Aviation Training Academy’s annual awards banquet on January 17, 2015, Marlon Green posthumously received their Courage in Aviation Award. Green, a skilled Air Force pilot, was the first African American pilot to be hired by a commercial airline after a long legal battle that took him and his family all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Green flew for Continental Airlines from 1965 until his retirement in 1978.
The awards banquet was held at the Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Marlon Green’s brother, Allen, accepted the award along with several family members.
Marlon Green was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2005. Five years later, Continental Airlines named their newest Boeing 737 after him. Green passed away on July 6, 2009.
Flint Whitlock’s highly acclaimed Turbulence before Takeoff takes readers from Marlon Green’s childhood in El Dorado, Arkansas, through his military career and exhaustive legal battle, and highlights his successful career with Continental Airlines. We join Marlon Green’s family in celebration of Captain Green’s latest award.