01-04-2019, 06:47 PM
I'm surprised that I have never flown on his airline. Maybe you have (Southwest Airlines):
Herbert David Kelleher (March 12, 1931 – January 3, 2019) was an American businessman. He was the co-founder, CEO, and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines.
The Kellehers moved to Texas intending to start a law firm or a business. Kelleher and one of his law clients, Texas businessman Rollin King, created the concept with banker John Parker that later became Southwest Airlines. An often retold founding myth states that the business plan was written out on a cocktail napkin in a San Antonio restaurant,[8] though Kelleher and King have both stated that there was no literal cocktail napkin.[9][10] Despite not being drawn on a napkin, they originally devised a very simple plan of connecting the Texas Triangle with low-cost air service, patterned largely on California's Pacific Southwest Airlines.[9][8]
After incorporating the company initially as "Air Southwest Co." in 1967, Kelleher and King faced four years of setbacks and legal challenges from competitors that culminated in winning key cases before the Supreme Court of the United States in December 1970 and the Supreme Court of Texas in June 1971.[9][8] The first flights finally took off on June 18, 1971.[10] Reflecting back on that time Kelleher said, "I think my greatest moment in business was when the first Southwest airplane arrived after four years of litigation and I walked up to it and I kissed that baby on the lips and I cried."[11] Kelleher's early involvement in the company was helping the company navigate legal concerns and as an advisor to the operation. Lamar Muse was hired as CEO, but after struggles between Muse and King escalated over the next several years, Muse resigned in 1978. Kelleher was installed as Chairman of the Board in March of that year and the board appointed him as temporary CEO.[9] In 1981 he was appointed the full-time CEO, a position he held for 20 years.[10]
Under Kelleher's leadership, Southwest succeeded by a strategy of offering low fares to its passengers, eliminating unnecessary services, using a single aircraft type (the Boeing 737), avoiding the hub-and-spoke scheduling system used by other airlines in favor of building point-to-point traffic, and focusing on secondary airports such as Chicago-Midway (instead of Chicago-O'Hare) and Orange County.[4] The company he founded and built has consistently been named among the most admired companies in America in Fortune magazine's annual poll.[12] Fortune has also called him perhaps the best CEO in America.[4]
Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.
Herb Kelleher[13]
Kelleher's colorful personality created a corporate culture which made Southwest employees well known for taking themselves lightly but their jobs seriously.[14] His culture-leadership was well-demonstrated in an arm-wrestling event in March 1992. Shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit, which was resolved between Herb Kelleher and Stevens Aviation CEO Kurt Herwald in an arm-wrestling match, now known as "Malice in Dallas".[15][16][8]
In March 2001, Kelleher stepped down as CEO and President of Southwest. He passed the CEO role onto James Parker and the President role to Colleen Barrett, though he remained Chairman of the Board.[6] On July 19, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced that Kelleher would step down from the role of Chairman and resign from the board of directors in May 2008. The retirement of Barrett as President was announced at the same time, though the two would remain full-time employees for another five years.[17] Kelleher ultimately stepped down as chairman on May 21, 2008. Immediately following, Southwest Airlines filled both the Chairman and President positions with then-current CEO, Gary C. Kelly, who had taken over the CEO position from Parker three years earlier.[18] Kelleher was given the title of Chairman Emeritus with an office at Southwest Airlines Headquarters and he remained connected to the company until his death in 2019.[19]
In July 2010 Kelleher was appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas board of directors for 2011.[20] Kelleher's term expired in 2013. Previously, he had served as Deputy Chair.[21][22]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Kelleher
Herbert David Kelleher (March 12, 1931 – January 3, 2019) was an American businessman. He was the co-founder, CEO, and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines.
The Kellehers moved to Texas intending to start a law firm or a business. Kelleher and one of his law clients, Texas businessman Rollin King, created the concept with banker John Parker that later became Southwest Airlines. An often retold founding myth states that the business plan was written out on a cocktail napkin in a San Antonio restaurant,[8] though Kelleher and King have both stated that there was no literal cocktail napkin.[9][10] Despite not being drawn on a napkin, they originally devised a very simple plan of connecting the Texas Triangle with low-cost air service, patterned largely on California's Pacific Southwest Airlines.[9][8]
After incorporating the company initially as "Air Southwest Co." in 1967, Kelleher and King faced four years of setbacks and legal challenges from competitors that culminated in winning key cases before the Supreme Court of the United States in December 1970 and the Supreme Court of Texas in June 1971.[9][8] The first flights finally took off on June 18, 1971.[10] Reflecting back on that time Kelleher said, "I think my greatest moment in business was when the first Southwest airplane arrived after four years of litigation and I walked up to it and I kissed that baby on the lips and I cried."[11] Kelleher's early involvement in the company was helping the company navigate legal concerns and as an advisor to the operation. Lamar Muse was hired as CEO, but after struggles between Muse and King escalated over the next several years, Muse resigned in 1978. Kelleher was installed as Chairman of the Board in March of that year and the board appointed him as temporary CEO.[9] In 1981 he was appointed the full-time CEO, a position he held for 20 years.[10]
Under Kelleher's leadership, Southwest succeeded by a strategy of offering low fares to its passengers, eliminating unnecessary services, using a single aircraft type (the Boeing 737), avoiding the hub-and-spoke scheduling system used by other airlines in favor of building point-to-point traffic, and focusing on secondary airports such as Chicago-Midway (instead of Chicago-O'Hare) and Orange County.[4] The company he founded and built has consistently been named among the most admired companies in America in Fortune magazine's annual poll.[12] Fortune has also called him perhaps the best CEO in America.[4]
Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.
Herb Kelleher[13]
Kelleher's colorful personality created a corporate culture which made Southwest employees well known for taking themselves lightly but their jobs seriously.[14] His culture-leadership was well-demonstrated in an arm-wrestling event in March 1992. Shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit, which was resolved between Herb Kelleher and Stevens Aviation CEO Kurt Herwald in an arm-wrestling match, now known as "Malice in Dallas".[15][16][8]
In March 2001, Kelleher stepped down as CEO and President of Southwest. He passed the CEO role onto James Parker and the President role to Colleen Barrett, though he remained Chairman of the Board.[6] On July 19, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced that Kelleher would step down from the role of Chairman and resign from the board of directors in May 2008. The retirement of Barrett as President was announced at the same time, though the two would remain full-time employees for another five years.[17] Kelleher ultimately stepped down as chairman on May 21, 2008. Immediately following, Southwest Airlines filled both the Chairman and President positions with then-current CEO, Gary C. Kelly, who had taken over the CEO position from Parker three years earlier.[18] Kelleher was given the title of Chairman Emeritus with an office at Southwest Airlines Headquarters and he remained connected to the company until his death in 2019.[19]
In July 2010 Kelleher was appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas board of directors for 2011.[20] Kelleher's term expired in 2013. Previously, he had served as Deputy Chair.[21][22]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Kelleher
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.