James A. Wooten was an American transportation and aviation entrepreneur. After an early career in trucking, he pioneered the first scheduled air freight ever at American Airlines before serving as president of Alaska Airlines during a period of rapid growth following World War II. In that role he initiated Operation Magic Carpet, the 1948–1950 airlift that carried tens of thousands of Yemenite Jews from Aden to the new state of Israel. Wooten completed Magic Carpet with his own charter carrier Near East Air Transport (NEAT), after regulatory issues forced him from Alaska Airlines in 1949. Wooten and NEAT went on to fly an even larger 1950–1951 airlift from Iraq to Israel in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, in which capacity Wooten cooperated with agents from the Israeli clandestine service Mossad LeAliyah Bet to make necessary arrangements. The two airlifts together carried at least 160,000 migrants to Israel. Wooten then became head of the all-cargo airline U. S. Airlines.