American Airlines announced the retirement of Doug Parker, who as CEO of competitor US Airways, engineered a merger that made the combined entity the world’s largest airline..
Mr. Parker, who first joined American in 1986 as a financial analyst followed by stints at other airlines, will step down next March although he will remain non-executive chairman of the board.
The airline’s board simultaneously announced the appointment of Robert Isom, who has served as the carrier’s president since 2016, to the position of CEO.
In the course of his career, Mr. Parker, who became CEO of America West Airlines in September 2001, days before the terrorist attacks on September 11, engineered the merger of that airline with US Airways, which took place in 2005, and then structured a second merger, the combined entity that continued under the US Airways name, with American Airlines, a deal which closed in 2013.
Mr. Isom began his career in the airline business in 1995 at America West, where he held several executive-level positions in management and operations. He joined American as executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2013 at the time of the merger, after holding the same positions at US Airways.
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