Markus A. Jegerlehner

Friday's Fabulous Flyer!

Markus A. Jegerlehner

Markus Shares His Life: 

Born into an aviator family, I spent many hours on the small airfield in Bern-Belp as a child. When I was young, I pursued completely different interests. I trained as a farmer. Fortunately, I was then allowed to complete my service in the Swiss Army in the Air Force and there my own enthusiasm for aviation grew. Instead of going to a technical university, I started traveling the world as a flight attendant with Swissair back in 1986. 

I was able to expand my hobby, photography, and from then on, I found the appropriate photo subjects on all destinations I was traveling to. From 1998 on, my pictures found their way into the press and I subsequently received a freelance contract with the well-known Swiss photo agency Keystone. 2001 the Swissair Grounding happened, the biggest Swiss economic debacle. I was on rotation with my crew in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

All I had left was to take pictures matching our sad condition so far from home. My intuition was right and I took the photo that now symbolizes Swissair Grounding. I won the Swiss Press Photo Prize in the category "Current Affairs" in 2003, and from then on, I received photo assignments from a wide range of industries, enabling me to reduce my flying workload as Maître de Cabine for Swiss Air Lines to 50%. 

My book about the Super Constellation, the former Camarillo Connie, was never really planned. But since I was involved in the project from the beginning and of course I always took pictures, a considerable number of beautiful pictures came together. I have now put these pictures together in a book as a memorial of this very special airplane and it’s 15 years of service flying the Swiss Alps. The sales show that the aviation community obviously likes my coffee-table book!

Today, I still photograph in the aviation industry, but live mainly from advertising photography for various companies and run my own photo studio. I consider myself very lucky to be able to do in life what gives me pleasure: flying and photography.

I live in Langenthal, Bern, Switzerland, am divorced and have two grown-up children.

About the Super Constellation «Star of Switzerland”

From 2004 to 2019 I was privileged to be part of the Super Constellation Flyers Association’s flying program as both a photographer and “Maître de Cabine.” My first encounter with the "Camarillo Connie" was in California where I photographed its departure for Switzerland and preparations leading up to the flight. I later had the privilege of becoming a crewmember on the “Star of Switzerland” during her flights from Bern, Geneva, Basel and Hamburg. Flights on this aviation icon from a bygone era were an incredible experience that I will never forget. If your heart beats for aviation and you get the opportunity to fly on a Super Connie in the Swiss Alps, you feel a surreal bond to the sky. I’ve shared my enthusiasm for this aircraft in this book and want to share it with all aviation enthusiasts…especially Connie fans.

Photobook by Markus A. Jegerlehner

Hardcover, 168 pages with 250 photos, the biography of the HB.-RSC and the story of the “Queen of the Atlantic of the 50s” with many original technical-documents. Text: English/German

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For more about the Constellation....

Enjoy the Journey!

XO Karlene