Some names aren’t just remembered.
They’re felt.
In the world of aviation, logistics, innovation, and leadership, Fred Smith was one of those names. The kind that echoes across generations of employees, entrepreneurs, pilots, and dreamers. A Marine. A visionary. And, for many of us, a mentor we may have never met, but who shaped our lives all the same.
Fred Smith’s passing this week brings with it the closing of an era. But his legacy? It’s still moving—still flying, still delivering—in ways big and small.
From the Battlefield to the Flightline
Fred didn’t just build FedEx.
He reimagined what was possible—and did it with the kind of clarity and commitment you only gain from service.
As a U.S. Marine Corps officer in Vietnam, he learned leadership not from a textbook, but in the heat of combat. And when he came home, he didn’t set down that discipline or purpose. He poured it into an idea: that overnight delivery could be a reality—and that every single package, like every person, mattered.
FedEx was born not from profit, but from a promise.
And as someone who spent over a decade working at FedEx, I saw that promise every day. It showed up in the way we prepared our routes, in the pride we took in purple and orange, in the belief that “absolutely, positively overnight” wasn’t just a slogan. It was a commitment. To each other. To excellence. To get the job done—together.
A Leader, A Pilot, A Force of Nature
Our Founder, Scott Painter, also carried that purple-and-orange energy forward. First, as a FedEx employee himself, and later as a business school graduate, he used Fred Smith’s leadership model as the foundation of many of his MBA research projects. That’s the kind of influence Fred had: even outside of his direct orbit, he was still shaping the trajectory of leaders to come.
And for Larry Tubor, our VP of Flight Operations and a 30+ year FedEx captain, Fred wasn’t just a CEO. He was a constant presence in the cockpit of culture. A commander with vision and humility.
“I was fortunate to have known him on a first-name basis. He was not only our CEO but also ‘the CO of our squadron.’”
— Larry Tubor, FedEx Captain
Larry piloted everything from Falcons to the Boeing 777, but it was the leadership at the top that gave flight crews like the confidence to show up and soar, day after day, decade after decade.
Delivering More Than Packages
Fred Smith didn’t just build a logistics empire.
He built a culture. He built people. He built possibilities.
What he gave to aviation, to veterans, to businesses, and to every person who ever wore a FedEx badge will never be fully captured in an obituary. It’s captured in the thousands of decisions made daily by people who learned from him. It’s captured in every successful startup founded by someone who once sorted boxes in the hub at night and dreamed big by day.
It’s captured in us—at Birds Eye Aerial Drones.
The precision we fly with. The integrity we operate. The family we lead with.
It all has Fred’s fingerprints on it.
Thank You, Fred
For the lift.
For the legacy.
For teaching us how to serve, how to lead, and how to deliver with purpose.
Rest easy, sir.
We’ll take it from here.
With gratitude,
Sheri Painter & the entire BEAD Family
