Cape Girardeau man traveled world, met stars with airline

As a reservation agent for United Airlines, Charles Pickett, 83, had the privilege of flying all over the world. Growing up in Cape Girardeau, Pickett said he never dreamed he'd get to see all the places he saw on movie screens. Sometimes he even got to meet the stars of those movies, as well.

Pickett said on one trip to Hawaii he'd fallen asleep by the hotel pool. When he woke up, Pickett realized the man in the lounger beside him was Clint Eastwood and he struck up a conversation.

"I told him I was happy to meet him but was really relieved he wasn't packing a gun," Pickett said. "And he got tickled at that and he's laughing because he's just in his bathing suit. He talked to me all afternoon. He's the nicest, friendliest guy you could ever imagine."

Pickett snapped a picture of Eastwood, but it wasn't until after he got it developed that he realized on the other side of Eastwood were actors Lee Majors and James Brolin.

Pickett graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in education, and he taught for two years at East Prairie High School.

As a reservation agent for United Airlines, Charles Pickett, 83, had the privilege of flying all over the world.Danny Walter

"But I kept thinking, I wanted to see the world." Pickett said. "So, I started working for United Airlines, and it became my own personal flying carpet."

Pickett worked in the United Airlines Reservation office in Chicago starting in 1969, retired in 1998, and estimated he'd taken around 200 flights during that time. He said he'd traveled all over the United States, Canada and Europe.

"Anything we did, all the trips we took, was educational for our job," Pickett said. "The more we saw, the more we learned, and we could pass that on to our customers and help them plan their trips."

Once Pickett was put in charge of raising money in the office for United Way. He said he got an idea to try to get a celebrity to help out with a contest.

"I called the United desk at the O'Hare airport and asked them who was the nicest celebrity who came through," Picket said. "And they said, 'Donnie Osmond, without a doubt'."

Osmond was in Chicago staring in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Pickett was able to contact him and asked whether he would be willing to visit their office and draw the name of the contest winner.

"Donnie said he would on one condition. He wanted to come and see what it was like to do my job," Picket said. "So, he came and sat in my cubicle, put on my headset and I taught him how to set reservations for people. He was just a genuine nice fella."

Pickett said he met many other celebrities during his travels, such as Jane Russell, Elizabeth Taylor and Charlton Heston. Once on a flight, Pickett said he got bumped from his first-class seat because it had been purchased at the last minute.

"I looked up and there was 'Broadway' Joe Namath," Pickett said. "He was very apologetic but of course it was no problem and I told him, 'Sir, if it wasn't for people like you, I wouldn't have my job.'"

Once, Pickett even ended up on the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson". He wanted to attend a taping of the show while he was in Los Angeles and was picked to play "Stump the Band".

"Whoever won got a prize, and so I stood up and asked if they knew the 'Wiener Schnitzel Waltz'," Pickett said. "They didn't know it and I won a free dinner at the Sportsman's Lodge, which was a really pricey place."

Pickett said his job has changed a lot since the time he worked there.

"We were required to wear a coat and tie to work even though we never saw the public. And when we flew, back in those days, if there was room, employees would be seated in first class, and we had to wear a coat and tie there, too."

In all his time working for United Airlines, Picket said he never saw an "ugly passenger incident like we have today."

"In those days, we were known as the Friendly Skies, that was our motto, and we just bent over backward to help people," Pickett said. "For instance, when I knew a couple was on their honeymoon, I would order they be served a cake and Champagne on the flight. We were allowed to do that in those days."

Pickett returned to live in Cape Girardeau in 2001 and said he believes he has lived a charmed life.

"I met so many wonderful people, and not just celebrities. The people I worked with, the camaraderie between us, it really was like a family," Pickett said. "As a career, it was more like play time. You worked hard when you were on the phone, but the rewards were worth it."