April 13, 1999
ALPA, Intl
Committees
Franke, 61, will
take over the duties handled by Richard Goodmanson, who resigned unexpectedly.
Tempe-based America West, the ninth-largest U.S. airline, had record
profits last year but has been plagued by operational problems during much of
Goodmanson’s three-year tenure. The carrier was last in on-time performance in 1998
and the Federal Aviation Administration tagged the airline with a record $2.5 million fine
last summer over allegations of safety violations.
“The reorganization is intended to improve our management focus
on operations and underline our commitment to safety,” Franke said as part of a
prepared statement.
Under the reorganization, Douglas Parker, chief operating officer,
was named corporate executive vice president, and Gilbert Mook, former senior operations
officer for Federal Express Corp., will join America West this month as executive vice
president and chief operating officer.
Both will serve on the boards of the holding company and the
airline. Franke will continue to focus on strategic issues, and Parker and Mook will
“run the airline on a day-to-day basis,” the company’s statement said.
Franke was unavailable for comment Monday, and America West senior
management would not comment beyond the news release. Goodmanson, 51, kept a low profile
in recent contract negotiations with the flight attendants, who reached a tentative
agreement last month to avert a threatened strike. He replaced Maurice Myers, who had
served as America West president for two years.
Goodmanson joined America West as executive vice president and chief
operating officer in June 1996 and became a member of the company’s board of
directors five months later. He was elected president of the holding company and CEO of
the airline on Feb. 4, 1997. Goodmanson’s employment agreement, which doesn’t
expire until June 17, calls for a severance payment ranging from 25 percent to 150 percent
of his base salary if it’s terminated for “certain reasons.”
Goodmanson’s base salary increased last year to $520,000. More recent figures were
unavailable.
His contract also binds Goodmanson to a two-year non-compete
agreement. Goodmanson, a former Frito-Lay executive, will make an announcement on his new
job soon, according to America West. “I want to offer my sincere thanks to Richard
(Goodmanson) for his significant contributions to the airline over the last three
years,” Franke said. “Richard leaves America West with our congratulations and
best wishes for success in his new position.” The natural inclination is to assume
that Goodmanson was forced out, but aviation consultant Mike Boyd said that’s not
necessarily a fair assumption.
“He navigated through some pretty rough times and did so
successfully,” Boyd said of Goodmanson.
Goodmanson may have just gotten worn out by 15-hour days and the
constant headaches of running a growing airline, Boyd said. “That’s a rotten job
to have, CEO of an airline,” he said. “You’re a shock absorber; taking it
from the bottom and taking it from the top.” The key element of America West’s
reorganization is the creation of two entities, the corporate group, headed by Parker, and
the operations group, under Mook.
Parker, 37, left Northwest Airlines in 1995 to join America West as
senior vice president and chief financial officer. Parker will head finance, planning,
revenue management, sales and marketing, information systems and corporate affairs.
Mook, 56, spent 15 years with Federal Express and ran the
company’s airline division, which has 8,500 employees, 590 aircraft and an operating
budget of $3.4 billion. America West has 12,750 employees and 111 aircraft in its fleet.
Mook, a former member of the Thunderbirds, an Air Force precision
flying team, was a Vietnam fighter pilot with more than 300 combat missions, according to
America West.
The company’s restructuring also includes two other changes.
Stephen Johnson, formerly senior vice president of corporate affairs, will serve as
assistant corporate group manager, reporting to Parker.
| Franke Back as AmWest CEO by Peter Corbett, The Arizona Republic |
||
| America West Chairman Bill Franke will return as the airline’s president and chief executive officer under a management reorganization announced Monday. |