On an Eastern Airlines flight from Atlanta to Florida in March of 1979 there was a disagreement between a flight attendant and a passenger who wanted the flight attendant to place her in a non smoking section. The attendant was still upset when she welcomed the passengers over the plane's loudspeaker.
She wished everyone a good trip except for one woman in the back.
Elizabeth E. Bailey was the first woman to be appointed to the Civil Aeronautical Board, which regulated air travel at the time. Dr. Bailey was in a position to know that the board had changed its rules a few months earlier to require that a passenger request a non smoking seat. Previously, a nonsmoker could sit with the cigarette crowd on a plane. The airline apologized to Dr. Bailey after she agreed not to smoke in the plane.
The small battle was evidence of what Dr. Bailey told Senator Ted Stevens during her confirmation hearing in 1977.
She had said that she hoped that was the case. "I'm tougher than you think."
During her six years on the board, Dr. Bailey would need that kind of determination. The board set in motion the deregulation of the airline industry and Dr. Bailey supported it in the face of considerable resistance.
Dr. Bailey had a distinguished career in academics. She was the first woman to hold that post at a Top 10 graduate business program.
She was the first woman to get a PhD in economics. She helped start a school for children with disabilities in 1969 because she was dissatisfied with the opportunities available to her.
She died at her home in Virginia. Her age was 83.
According to her sister, the cause was Parkinson's disease.
The president appointed Dr. Bailey to the board. The board had to have at least two members of the minority party. Mr. Carter was interested in deregulating the airlines and he was impressed by the credentials of Dr. Bailey.
Dr. Bailey was impressed with the vetting process.
She said in 1977 that she was one of four Republican women. The president wasn't going to appoint me until he met me. He wanted to know if I could do the job and make the right decisions.
She received a distinguished alumni award from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 2015.
Elizabeth Raymond was born in New York. Both of her parents were professors.
Dr. Bailey received an economics degree from the college. She married a computer scientist named James Bailey and they had two children, James and William. The Harbor School was founded by the parents of a disabled child.
Dr. Bailey worked in the technical programming department at Bell Laboratories after graduation. She worked as a senior technical aid on an antimissile missile program, calculating the trajectory of flying weapons and their debris. She was more interested in economics.
She had stories about the sexism she encountered at the company and how she was mistaken for a secretary. She helped found Bell's economics research group and led it until 1977. The book she wrote, "Economic Theory of Regulatory Constraint", is a well-regarded text in the field.
Dr. Bailey led the business and public policy department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2005. She was a board member for many years.
She said in an interview that she was the only woman on the board. She worked with professional organizations to correct the situation. The Carolyn Shaw Bell Award, given annually to an individual who has furthered the status of women in the economics profession through example, achievements, increasing our understanding of how women can advance in the economics profession, was presented to her in 2009.
Ms. Bestani said that she made sure to get an apartment in Reston that had a connecting unit so that James could live there. He passed away in the fall of last year.
A memorial for Dr. Bailey and an 80th birthday party for Betsy were both held on the same weekend.
Dr. Bailey is survived by three other sisters and two grandsons.
Ms. Bestani recalled a time when Dr. Bailey was able to do more than one thing. A colleague of Dr. Baileys came by while the children were playing in the sand. They began talking about their research.
Ms. Bestani said that she remembered the juxtaposition of her conversation about micro economics while she supervised the building of a sand castle.
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