Doug Parker

William Douglas "Doug" Parker (born 1962)[1] is an American businessman who is the current Chairman and CEO of American Airlines Group, Inc., the parent company of American Airlines.[2]

For other people named Doug Parker, see Doug Parker (disambiguation).

Doug Parker
Doug Parker in 2014
BornOctober 31st 1962
EducationAlbion College, Vanderbilt University
EmployerAmerican Airlines Group, Inc.
Notable work
Chairman & CEO of American Airlines Group
TitleCEO & Chairman
Termsince 2013
PredecessorBill Franke
SuccessorIncumbent
Spouse(s)Gwen Parker
Children3

Early life and education

Parker grew up in Michigan and received a BA in Economics from Albion College (1984). He then received an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University (1986), where American Airlines offered him a job after a campus interview.[3]

Early career

Parker was a financial analyst at American Airlines from 1986 to 1991, where he was a member of then CEO Robert Crandall's "Brat Pack",[4] alongside Thomas W. Horton (former CEO President and Chairman of American), C. David Cush (former CEO of Virgin America), and Ben Baldanza (former CEO of Spirit Airlines).

Parker joined Northwest Airlines in 1991 and was tasked to help create a team that would systematically figure out where the airline was making and losing money. Tracking profits flight-by-flight in such detail at that level was a first for Northwest.[5]

Parker became Chief Financial Officer of America West Airlines in 1995 after returning to United States, and because then-CEO Bill Franke wanted to train him to be a CEO, Parker moved around between finance, sales, and operations.[5] Parker was named Chairman and CEO in September 2001, 10 days before the September 11th terrorist attacks.[6] Under Parker, America West was the first of several airlines to win post-9/11 federal loan guarantees, saving the airline from a second bankruptcy.[3]

US Airways career

America West and US Airways merged in 2005, with Parker continuing as CEO of the combined company. US Airways made an unsuccessful bid to merge with Delta Air Lines as it was in bankruptcy protection in 2006, faltering as Delta rallied workers and creditors against the hostile bid. Creditors rejected the bid in early 2007.[7] US Airways also attempted a merger with United Airlines in 2008 and in 2010, but United ultimately merged with Continental Airlines.[5]

American Airlines career

In 2012, US Airways launched an effort to merge with American Airlines, while American's parent company, AMR Corporation, was in bankruptcy protection. US Airways took the unprecedented step of securing tentative contracts with American's labor groups, while AMR was still pushing to exit bankruptcy.[6] That deal closed on 9 December 2013, and Parker was named CEO of the combined company, which became the world's largest airline.[2]

Personal life

Parker lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Gwen Parker, and three children. In 2007, Doug Parker pleaded guilty to his third DUI and was sentenced to 1 day in jail.[8] After his conviction, shareholders questioned if the company should have disclosed Parker's two previous DUI arrests.[9] He and his family are active members of Highland Park United Methodist Church.[10]

Parker endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[11]

Awards and appearances
  • 2015 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Southwest region.[12]
  • Commencement address at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management, 10 May 2013[13]
  • Recipient of the 2017 Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation.
gollark: 2039, after the apocalypse.
gollark: Hmm, so you're suggesting that the problem is monolithic design more generally?
gollark: I mean, I can `pacman -Syu` and have stuff work without rebooting. Except kernel updates, for which I can do `kexec`.
gollark: ... Arch?
gollark: Because if they weren't read-only it could just update the files while the device is still running.

References
  1. "Doug Parker". www.nndb.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  2. "A year into its merger with US Airways, American Airlines is flying high". dallasnews.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. "America West CEO inspires workers by being one of them". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. "Travel News, Tips, and Guides - USATODAY.com". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  5. "Persistent Doug Parker nears top job at American - StarTribune.com". Star Tribune. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. Mary Schlangenstein (11 February 2013). "US Airways CEO Takes AMR Prize to Cap Mergers He Spurred". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. "US Air drops hostile bid for Delta after creditors say no - Jan. 31, 2007". cnn.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. "US Airways CEO serves 24-hour jail sentence for drunk driving - USATODAY.com". usatoday.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  9. Herb Greenberg (12 February 2007). "US Airways Should've Disclosed CEO's DUI". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. "Interview with Doug Parker". Highland Park United Methodist Church. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  11. Ballhaus, R. The Wall Street Journal September 23, 2016.
  12. EY (30 June 2015). "EY announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2015 Award recipients in the Southwest". prnewswire.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  13. 2013 Commencement Address: Douglas Parker, MBA'86. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016 – via YouTube.
Business positions
Preceded by
Thomas W. Horton		 CEO of American Airlines
2013 - present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.