America West CEO inspires workers by being one of them
Thursday, June 02, 2005
America West Airlines boss Doug Parker may be 43, but he looks so much younger that some employees call him "Doogie," a nickname inspired by TV's precocious teenage doctor Doogie Howser, M.D.
The light-haired, boyish Parker doesn't seem to mind. "Age is only one factor" in establishing credibility, Parker said in a recent interview.
The youngest chief executive officer of a large U.S. airline, Parker is the man who would run a merged US Airways-America West if he can win a slew of regulatory approvals this summer and outlast any rival bidders.
If successful, he would assume responsibility for more than 40,000 people, including the 5,000 US Airways employees who still work in the Pittsburgh area. Parker also would assume the delicate task of merging disparate employee cultures while ensuring that the nation's new No. 6 carrier can withstand high oil prices, low fares and widespread industry turmoil.
Some wonder if Parker has the stuff to pull it off. But the same question was put before him in September 2001, when at age 39 he slid into America West's top job eight days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The attacks -- and Parker's response to them -- put any concerns to rest.
"That was life or death," Parker said of the tumultuous period after the attacks, when the entire airline industry was brought to its knees and has yet to fully recover.
Under Parker, America West was the first of several airlines to win post-9/11 federal loan guarantees, saving the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier from a second bankruptcy -- its first was in the early 1990s.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05153/514124.stm
Thursday, June 02, 2005
America West Airlines boss Doug Parker may be 43, but he looks so much younger that some employees call him "Doogie," a nickname inspired by TV's precocious teenage doctor Doogie Howser, M.D.
The light-haired, boyish Parker doesn't seem to mind. "Age is only one factor" in establishing credibility, Parker said in a recent interview.
The youngest chief executive officer of a large U.S. airline, Parker is the man who would run a merged US Airways-America West if he can win a slew of regulatory approvals this summer and outlast any rival bidders.
If successful, he would assume responsibility for more than 40,000 people, including the 5,000 US Airways employees who still work in the Pittsburgh area. Parker also would assume the delicate task of merging disparate employee cultures while ensuring that the nation's new No. 6 carrier can withstand high oil prices, low fares and widespread industry turmoil.
Some wonder if Parker has the stuff to pull it off. But the same question was put before him in September 2001, when at age 39 he slid into America West's top job eight days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The attacks -- and Parker's response to them -- put any concerns to rest.
"That was life or death," Parker said of the tumultuous period after the attacks, when the entire airline industry was brought to its knees and has yet to fully recover.
Under Parker, America West was the first of several airlines to win post-9/11 federal loan guarantees, saving the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier from a second bankruptcy -- its first was in the early 1990s.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05153/514124.stm
