Jonnie Nyström worked for the airline industry his entire life. He joined ABA, the Swedish predecessor to Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), in 1943 and thus was already onboard when SAS was formed in 1945. He stayed with the company his entire career until he retired in the early 90s.

Jonnie was an engineer and worked in aircraft maintenance until the 1960s when he became SAS’ technical representative at Swissair in Zürich. During the 50s he also participated in aircraft accident investigations. After returning from Switzerland, he transferred to Linta, SAS’ jet engine maintenance base at Bromma Airport in Stockholm, as their sales and marketing representative to airlines around the world.

During his career, Jonnie saw many firsts within the airline industry, such as when SAS flew the first commercial trans-Atlantic flight after WWII in May 1945 using converted B-17 bombers that they bought for $1 a piece and when SAS inaugurated the first polar route in 1954 from Copenhagen to Los Angeles via Sondre Stromfjord using DC-6B aircraft.