|
While pilots enjoy one of the more visible
careers in the airline industry, the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) is the person eventually
responsible for all the good (and bad) that
occurs at an airline. This is a high-stress
job (to say the least) but those individuals
that help guide a carrier to profitability
seem to enjoy an almost rock-start status
in the industry. A few notable airline CEOs
have made the news headlines over the last
few weeks. Here are a few examples:
Just a few weeks ago, Midwest Air Group
CEO Tim Hoeksema urged shareholders to reject
AirTran's $345 million offer to acquire
the airline. In a letter to shareholders
filed with the Securities & Exchange
Commission, Hoeksema said a merger would
lead to crowded planes and poor service
and he criticized AirTran's recent earnings.
An AirTran executive fired back and claimed
his airline has been profitable for eight
years and that the offer will create value
for shareholders.
Meanwhile, Northwest Airlines CEO Doug
Steenland says his airline is “fixed” and
prepared to exit bankruptcy protection as
an independent airline. However, he also
said there will likely be airline consolidation
at some point. The now defunct proposed
merger between Delta Air Lines and US Airways
would have forced other airlines to consider
their options”, he said.
Last but not least, US Airways CEO Doug
Parker didn't respond well to Delta Air
Lines' creditors who lagged in responding
to his airline's merger bid. “We've got
a company to run,” Parker said. “We're not
going to keep chasing this thing, even though
we've got a bunch of people telling us we
should.”
See
What It's All About
One of the World's most successful airlines
is Virgin Atlantic Airways. Its eccentric
founder, Sir Richard Branson, is a highly
successful entrepreneur that enjoys thinking
outside of ‘the box'. Overseeing the airline's
parent company, Virgin Group, Sir Richard
has taken on other airline projects including
a successful carrier in Australia called
Virgin Blue. An offshoot of that airline
is Pacific Blue, a smaller carrier based
in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Avjobs.com interviewed Tony Marks,
the airline's former CEO, who gave us great
insight into the nuances of running an airline
and the unique business philosophy Pacific
Blue and Branson's other airlines operate
by. We invite you to watch this interesting
interview on the above video screen.”
|
 |
Climbing
the Management Ladder
Being the CEO of an airline is not the kind
of job that someone just slips into. Typically
these airline big wigs worked their way
up the corporate ranks. In some cases, they've
been recruited from similar positions other
industries. Historically, most airline CEOs
have spent a considerable amount of time
in some type of the management structure.
A good example is Joe Leonard,
CEO of AirTran Airways has been climbing
the airline industry's ladder his whole
life. Unlike many airline executives who
are groomed at Ivy League schools and rise
through the elite ranks of finance, the
60-year-old executive came up through the
operations side of the business.
Leonard first earned a degree in aerospace
engineering from Auburn University and then
joined Northwest Airlines' maintenance operation
at Minneapolis, overseeing the care of two
engine models. In his previous jobs at Northwest,
American and Eastern, Leonard learned the
business from the inside.
Leonard may have been born to work at
an airline but his experience at Eastern
in Miami almost drove him from the industry
for good. As president, he ran the airline
day-to-day and dealt with labor unions.
Leonard resigned in 1990 when a bankruptcy
judge named a trustee to run Eastern. It
shut down the next year. Leonard left for
Northwest, then fled airlines altogether
to run AlliedSignal's aerospace unit. After
he took AirTran's reigns in 1999 after the
conclusion of the ValueJet crash investigation
in the Florida's Everglades, the airline's
subsequent quick rise made Leonard a star.
During that time, he earned $1 million in
salary and bonus, more than many CEOs of
large legacy carriers.
AirTran now flies mainly in the East
and upper Midwest, but is quickly expanding
across the country, into Mexico and the
Caribbean. Many of Leonard's peers say he's
taken pride in AirTran's labor relations.
For example, he's careful to call all AirTran
employees “crew members,” even those who
don't work on the airplanes. After the Sept.
11 attacks, Leonard and the rest of management
took voluntary pay cuts along with labor.
As a result, AirTran had to lay off only
84 employees, a small fraction of its workforce.
Unlike some airlines with layers of support
staff, AirTran has one secretary for every
two managers. The airline's modest one-story
headquarters is compact and there's no dining
room for all to enjoy. So, lunch is often
a fat sandwich from a nearby sub shop. All
of this is characteristic of Leonard's motto:
“Keep it simple, and say 'no' a lot.”
|
|
