The rebuilt Electra from the crash in Hawaii, came out of the Lockheed Plant on May 19th. Two days later it was flown to Oakland where a friend shipped on board the cargo of "covers" carried for philatelists. No announcement was made of the decision to reverse the direction of the flight – from westward to eastward. Although Amelia in the Boston Globe May 30, 1937 said the basic reason was the weather. "Two months delay have seen relentless progress. At present, it seems best to head into the dawns instead of the sunsets." On May 21, 1937, Amelia, accompanied by husband George Putnam, Bo McKneely and Fred Noonan slipped away without comment from Oakland on the second attempt.
