Which courier delivery company was founded by Fred Smith in 1971? The answer is FedEx.
Frederick W. Smith founded the company as Federal Express Corporation in 1971. Smith had developed the idea while studying at Yale: an express-delivery system would use a central air hub to move urgent packages quickly between cities, rather than relying entirely on slower passenger-airline networks.
The company was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, but formal operations began in 1973 after the organization moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Smith chose Memphis International Airport for its central location relative to the U.S. population and generally favorable flying conditions. The early network used aircraft to sort and redistribute packages overnight.
A common mix-up is confusing the company’s founding date with its launch of delivery operations. FedEx was established in 1971, while its major operating rollout came in 1973. The company was originally called Federal Express; it adopted the shorter FedEx name in the 1990s as its services expanded beyond the original air-express model.