Jim Wilson JW00100 In airline speak, a Jim Wilson is the polite code name for human remains traveling in the cargo hold. A Jim Wilson Air Tray is an air casket. Reference (search for "Jim Wilson")



American Airlines Cargo still offers this specialized service:

" American Airlines Cargo Jim Wilson Service® is very serious about the care and sensitivity of transporting departed loved ones to their final resting place. Advance arrangements must be made prior to shipping Human Remains; therefore we have established the Jim Wilson DeskSM."



Jim Wilson (noun) a dead body traveling as airplane cargo. This term appears to originate with or to be specific to American Airlines. Reference



American Airlines Codename Jim Wilson - If you go up to an American Airlines check-in counter under the name Jim Wilson, the agent will give you a double-take. That's because Jim Wilson is the American Airlines code for coffin or cadaver shipments. Reference.



Jim Wilson is a manufacturer of Air Trays - a box that is used to ship casketed human remains on an airplane. C & L Containers is another manufacturer of Air Trays and other containers used by the funeral industry.

Citations: 1988 Jonathan Dahl Wall Street Journal (Mar. 22) Tracking Travel: About 50,000 bodies were air-shipped last year. American, meanwhile, has developed a code name for its program: Jim Wilson. Funeral directors calling the airline in the presence of the deceaseds family can simply ask for the name. It makes things easier for them, says the spokesman.



A Jim Wilson, for example, is airline industry argot for a cadaver being shipped in cargo; undertakers routinely ask for Jim Wilson fares". So when a computer executives wife inquired about her husband at the airport recently"Is there a Jim Wilson on this flight?the attendant promised to phone the baggage department and locate the casket. Needless to say, my wife was taken aback, my friend Mr. Wilson reports.



Jim Wilsons are also used to transport cadavers for cryo preservation (cryonics).

Chronosphere. Alcor Life Extension Foundation.



If a Ziegler case and Jim Wilson tray are being used as the shipping container, a mortician is probably involved in the case. Transport team members should persuade the mortician to assist with the packing. Solicit the mortician's assistance about the best methods for sealing the edges against leakage. Insulating material around the body pouch may collect condensation in addition to providing a barrier against warming. (Standard mortuary shipping containers are not designed to be water-tight. Extra caulking of the casing seams will provide an additional assurance that the container should not leak in transit.)





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