Roy C. Farrell (19 June 1912 – 3 January 1996) was the American co-founder of Cathay Pacific Airways along with Australian Sydney de Kantzow.
Farrell was born in Vernon, Texas and went to China during World War II to start an export business (Roy Farrell Import-Export Company in Hong Kong.[1] He joined the China National Aviation Company in 1942 and flew in Burma to supply the war effort. He left CNAC to establish Cathay Pacific with Sydney de Kantzow.[1]
Prior to forming Cathay Pacific, Farrell attempted to purchase a ship to take advantage of what he rightfully perceived to be an opening market in China to goods previously unavailable to it before the war. Farrrell was unable to locate any ship for purchase and instead bought a C-47 (more commonly referred to as a DC-3) and this airplane was named Betsy. He, along with a crew he assembled, flew the plane from New Jersey through South America, Africa, India, and China eventually ending the trip in Shanghai. The airline subsequently purchased another C-47 and this plane was named Niki. Betsy is currently on display in the Hong Kong Science Museum and a plane painted to resemble Niki is on display at Cathay Pacific's offices at Chep Lap Kok in Hong, Kong; the fate of the original Niki is unknown.
As the business developed, Farrell focused more on the shipping aspects of the company and de Kantzow focused more upon flying. The early Cathay Pacific pilots were referred to as Syd's Pirates.
Both Farrell and de Kantzow were ex-air force pilots who had flown The Hump, a route over the Himalayan Mountains. Each man put up HK$1 to register the airline. Although initially based in Shanghai, the two men moved to Hong Kong to found Cathay Pacific Airways. They named it "Cathay" because it was the medieval name given to China, derived from "Khitan", and "Pacific" because Farrell speculated that they would one day fly across the Pacific. The Chinese name for the company comes from a Chinese idiom meaning "Grand and Peaceful State".
Farrell sold his stake the airline and returned to the United States in 1948.[2]
Farrell died in Vernon, Texas in 1996. He was married twice and had two sons and one daughter and had nine grandchildren. His son Roy C. Farrell Jr is an inventor and lives in Vernon.