After 20 years in charge of American Airlines, CEO Doug Parker is passing the torch to the airline’s current president, Robert Isom. Isom will take over as CEO on March 31, 2022.
The CEO started at America West in 2001 and has since overseen two mergers (with U.S. Airways and American Airlines), both of which have positioned American as the largest U.S. airline. Parker’s career certainly hasn’t been easy. Throughout his career, Parker navigated 9/11, the 2008 recession, and the Covid pandemic.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, shared:
“No other CEO worked as hard, spent as much time with Congress or the administration, or felt the urgency of keeping people connected to our jobs — not once, but three times. The industry is standing today and able to lift us out of the biggest crisis in aviation history.”
Doug Parker isn’t the only airline leader stepping down. Earlier this year, Gary Kelly of Southwest announced that he would be handing over his position to Robert Jordan. Brad Tilden of Alaska Airlines did the same.
$AAL closed down 0.22%. Read more about Doug Parker’s eventful career on CNBC.