James Howell Douglas was born on 9 June 1900, the second child and only son of Albert Ellis Douglas, M.D., and Virginia (Jenny) Rucks Douglas, in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee (near Nashville). He grew up in the Nashville area, living for several years on the grounds of Central State Hospital, a mental institution south of Nashville, where his father was Superintendent. Douglas' interest in aviation dated from an airplane ride with a barnstormer during this time.
Douglas began his career in aviation shortly after graduating from Nashville's Bowen Preparatory School, going to Virginia to work as an airplane rigger for the Alexandria Aircraft Corporation. After World War I, he enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard's 105th Observation Squadron as an airplane and engine mechanic. By 1924, he had / accepted an officer's commission in the National Guard, qualifying as a military pilot / through the US Army Air Corps' training programs at Brooks Field in Texas and Maxwell Field in Alabama. Rejoining his National Guard unit as a 1st Lieutenant, Douglas supervised the engineering, maintenance, and operations of the 105th Observation Squadron.
In 1928 Douglas joined the Embry-Riddle Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, as an air mail pilot and flight instructor. In 1930 he became Chief Pilot and Operations Manager for the Curtiss Wright Flying Service in Louisville, Kentucky, and, in 1931, he joined American Airlines as a Captain and check pilot in their air mail operation. Cancellation of air mail contracts in 1934 led him to return to Nashville to work at a car dealership until, in the spring of 1935, he was appointed by the US Army to command a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was being built at Sale Creek, Tennessee. He remained in the US Army Air Corps as a reserve officer when he returned to civilian life.
In July 1935, Douglas accepted an appointment as Aeronautical Inspector with the US Department of Commerce's newly formed Bureau of Air Commerce. From then until the middle of 1942, he held various positions within the Department of Commerce, including Air Carrier Inspector and Assistant Chief in the Civil Aeronautics Board's Accident Investigation Division, moving from Wichita, Kansas, to Kansas City, Missouri, and, eventually, to Washington, DC.
In May 1942, Douglas was called to active duty in the Army Air Forces where he advanced to the rank of Lt. Colonel and earned his Command Pilot's wings. In 1944 and 1945, he commanded the 27th Air Transport Group, first in England and, after D-Day, near Paris. He organized and directed the activities of eight squadrons that operated in the European Theater of Operations ferrying all tactical aircraft to and from the front lines, delivering medical and other supplies, especially gasoline, to the front, evacuating the wounded to England, and transporting the mail and high priority passengers throughout the ETO. Details of these operations, and a picture of Douglas, may be found in Jon A. Maguire's Gooney Birds and Ferry Tales: the 27th Air Transport Group in World War II (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1998).
After World War II, Douglas returned to his position in the Bureau of Air Commerce, by then renamed the Civil Aeronautics Administration, where he worked as an Air Carrier Inspector in Kansas City, Missouri, until, in 1946, he became Superintendent of the CAA's Flight Operations Branch in Chicago, Illinois. In 1952, after a dispute with his supervisor over the safety of the Martin 202, Douglas left Chicago for CAA offices in Atlanta, Georgia. He subsequently worked for the CAA in Washington, DC, and on Long Island, New York, ultimately retiring from what was by then known as the Federal Aviation Agency in 1964.
Douglas piloted a wide variety of single-, twin-, 3-, and 4-engine airplanes, from Jennies to bombers. A great deal of his professional attention was devoted to aviation safety issues, perhaps a result of his experiences flying the mail in the early days of Embry-Riddle and American Airlines, teaching others to fly, and investigating accidents. As a civil servant, he worked to insure that airports were safe, that aircraft were airworthy, and that pilots, mechanics, and dispatchers were qualified.
Douglas belonged to various aviation organizations, notably the Quiet Birdmen, the OX-5 Club, and the Daedallion. Throughout his entire adult life, he enjoyed fellowship with others who participated in the early days of both military and civilian aviation. ;
Douglas died on 28 January 1974 in Warrenton, Virginia. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. The Heritage Project archive of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, houses a collection of documents and photographs related to his career in aviation, and some artifacts of his early flying days are on exhibit there.