I Have Traveled the World as a Former Airline Exec, and Nothing Tops Multigenerational Travel

My grandson and I created lasting bonds during Spanish adventure

Frank Lorenzo,

AARP

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Published September 13, 2024

left: photo of Frank Lorenzo with his family; right: Frank Lorenzo with his grandson sitting at a restaurant

Frank Lorenzo, a former airline executive, far right, went to Spain with his grandson Jack Lynch, third from left, to meet extended family in June 2024. Lorenzo and Jack explored the region of Galicia, including the coastal town of Sanxenxo.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Frank Lorenzo (2); Getty Images)

Frank Lorenzo is former CEO of Continental Airlines and author of Flying for Peanuts: Tough Deals, Steep Bargains, and Revolution in the Skies (Sept. 10). The book recounts Lorenzo’s 25-year career in the airline industry and his pioneering approach to travel that helped to shape the industry.

During the summer of 1955, when I was 15, I learned that I would take my first-ever commercial flight, along with my parents, to visit my brother, Val, who was stationed in Germany with the Army. I convinced my parents to allow me to make the travel plans, which required several after-school treks to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport to discuss details of the trip with ticket agents there. I could have used the phone, but it was more exciting to go to the airport.

I can’t imagine a teenager today creating a travel plan by heading to a nearby airport to talk to ticket agents, let alone buy tickets from them. On the day we departed LaGuardia, there was no boarding bridge to the airplane. My parents and I walked across the tarmac and directly boarded the plane via steps. So much has changed since then — everything from airport security to the apps for checking in and choosing our seats.

Planning a multigenerational trip?

Lorenzo suggests these tips when traveling with grandchildren who aren’t accompanied by their parents:

Address concerns early
Identify and address any challenges, such as coordinating arrival times if traveling separately
Create a detailed itinerary
Keep parents informed through any revisions

I’ve experienced those changes as a traveler. However, for most of my professional life, I had a front-row seat to major shifts in air travel as an agent of that change while president and chief executive of Texas International Airlines and ultimately as CEO of Continental Airlines. I helped to introduce low-cost airfares made possible by deregulation in the 1970s, started the first frequent-flier program and banned cigar and pipe smoking on aircraft. I retired as CEO in 1990 before other major changes to the way we travel got off the ground, so to speak, such as purchasing tickets online and using apps to track flights.

For me, one aspect of travel remains fundamentally important: the excitement of getting on a plane. It was there on Aug. 7, 1955, when my parents and I boarded one of TWA’s Lockheed L-049 Constellation propeller airplanes to visit my brother. That excitement was also there in June 2024, when my 16-year-old grandson Jack Lynch and 84-year-old me took a trip to revisit my family’s roots in Spain.

A heritage journey

Multigenerational travel can take many shapes, but one of the more meaningful ways to bring generations together is a trip that introduces younger generations to a part of their roots.

Last summer, Jack expressed an interest in traveling with me to Spain. Understandably, his mother (my eldest daughter) had her concerns. Jack had flown before, but this would be his first solo flight — an international one at that. I worked on this trip from Thanksgiving 2023 to May 2024, sending multiple revisions of the itinerary to Jack’s parents before finalizing the details. It was worth every minute.

Jack traveled from Dallas, where he lived, while I flew from Newark, New Jersey. With proper planning, we landed at Madrid’s international airport in Spain within a half-hour of each other, and I went to his terminal to pick him up on the other side of the airport. It was seamless.

Early on, I identified some experiences and places I wanted to share with him, including a bullfight in Madrid and a tour of the Prado, Spain’s national art museum. There was a balance between the artistic and doing things that were more in tune with what a young guy would want. The tour allowed him to fully experience and enjoy the art, but didn’t overwhelm. Enough of it could sink in before we headed out to the bullfight. In both instances, Jack got a taste of the culture that is our shared heritage, and I had a chance to experience it with him.

Making connections

Skyhorse Publishing

I created opportunities, too, that allowed me to reconnect with family and friends and introduce Jack. He met relatives in Madrid and Galicia — in my parents’ hometown — and a few longtime friends, experiences he said were meaningful to him. Some of the more memorable moments were quieter ones, including a stop for lunch at a seafood restaurant in Sanxenxo, a town I had never visited, and which Jack selected from a map. We discovered it together.

One of the biggest differences between traveling with my children in earlier years and with my grandson are the ever-present cellphones. They certainly make travel easier. And Jack now has photos of a part of his roots and some phenomenal places, including the gorgeous Santiago de Compostela, in the palm of his hand. But we must remind younger generations to live in the moment and avoid technological distractions.

There are few moments as special as those that allow you to travel with a child or grandchild. They don’t forget those moments easily. Make the time to plan a bonding multigenerational trip that can focus on part of a family’s heritage, past and present. You won’t be sorry.

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