Savannah James hopes other women will find inspiration in her being chosen to christen Wingfoot Two, Goodyear’s newest airship.
James also demonstrated a strong right arm when she broke open a bottle of champagne late Friday afternoon to christen the blimp. That sent a shower of bubbly up her arm, even spraying a little bit on Richard Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, chief executive officer and president, who stood next to her.
After the event concluded, James noted she was surprised when asked by Goodyear to do the ceremony: “Honestly, I kind of thought, me? You want me to christen the Goodyear blimp? I kind of let it sink in, then I kind of thought, why not me? Kind of awesome.”
James said she wants other young women to be themselves and do what they are passionate about. “You never know what will come out of that,” she said.
James, an Akron native, has started her own business and began the annual I PROMise Makeover event intended to empower and inspire young women. James also is preparing to launch a mentor program for young women in Akron at Buchtel high school, her alma mater.
She also is married to Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James and actively volunteers with the LeBron James Family Foundation. (LeBron attended the christening, wearing a baseball cap and a jacket with his number, 23, on its back.)
Savannah James became part of a long line of women who have christened Goodyear airships. They include aviator Amelia Earhart in 1929 and astronaut Sally Ride in 2000. Television journalist Robin Roberts of ABC’s Good Morning America christened Wingfoot One in 2014. Roberts was also at Friday’s ceremony and spoke briefly.
James said it is a big deal to her that she became the second African-American woman — after Roberts — to christen a Goodyear blimp.
“It really says a lot that they even considered me,” James said.
She noted with a smile that there were a few audience members who were not as thrilled as she was about being chosen to do the christening: her children.
“I wish they were a little more excited about it,” she said. “But at 12, 9 and 2, they were just kind of here.
“... They were, ‘Mom, can I take my iPad?’ ‘No,’ ” she said. She said she told them she was going to make a nice speech and they had to listen to her.
“I’m pretty sure they’re proud of me,” she said.
To her, the Goodyear blimp represents Akron, she said.
“It’s Akron, wherever you are, whatever sporting event you’re at. It’s the Pro Bowl in Hawaii — that’s Akron floating over,” she said.
Cold, rainy weather kept the speeches and invitation-only audience — largely Goodyear employees — inside Goodyear’s blimp base hangar in Suffield Township.
Goodyear projected a video history of its airships on the closed hangar doors, and then opened them to reveal Wingfoot Two outside, with the University of Akron marching band playing.
Kramer said James was a great choice to christen Wingfoot Two. The company looked for people who are rooted to Akron, he said.
“Savannah was just the perfect person to do it for us,” Kramer said. “It was actually an easy choice.”
He noted that the airships are often used for charitable purposes and the new models can carry more people than earlier generations of airships.
New technology soars
Wingfoot Two is the second in a new generation of Goodyear airships called NT, for New Technology. Wingfoot Two first flew March 12. It likely will remain based at the Suffield Township base for another year, then be moved out to California.
The company likes the name Wingfoot because of its historic ties to Goodyear’s logo.
Wingfoot Two is identical to Wingfoot One, which first flew in March 2014 after being built inside Goodyear’s Portage County blimp base.
The NT airships are not true blimps because they have a semi-rigid carbon fiber and aluminum skeleton. They are longer, faster and quieter than the company’s previous generation of blimps.
The Spirit of Innovation, which first flew in 2006, and is based in California, is the last of Goodyear’s true blimps. When the Spirit of Innovation is retired, it will be replaced by a third NT airship yet to be built.
The airship manufacturer is Germany-based Zeppelin, which ships over the parts to be assembled at the Suffield Township hangar. Parts for the third NT airship are already at the hangar.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ