Caterair was the name of a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

-based investment, Caterair International, Inc., of the

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

. It provided in-flight meals for passengers on large commuter aircraft. It is famous for its association with

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, who was a member of its board of directors between 1990 and 1994, and even served on its audit committee. He quit the Board to run for the position of Texas governor, months before the firm declared bankruptcy. Carlyle acquired the business from

Marriott Corp. Marriott Corporation was a hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993, founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, Marriott Corporation opened its first hotel in Arlington County, Virginia, ...

which sold its In-Flite Services catering business to Marriott’s upper management. Carlyle took a 50% stake, committing $93.8 million. The business was renamed Caterair. The investment was funded primarily by a massive issuance of

junk bond In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events, ...

financing, as was the trend at that time. With the global economy spiralling into recession during the early 1990s, the airline business faltered, and with it did Caterair. It eventually defaulted on its debt obligations during 1994. Hence, it was later dubbed ''CraterAir'', by Wall Street analysts. Caterair was sold by Carlyle to the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

private equity firm,

Onex Corporation Onex Corporation is an investment manager founded in 1984. The firm manages capital on behalf of Onex shareholders, institutional investors and high net worth clients around the world. As of September 30, 2022, Onex had approximately US$47.2 ...

, in September 1995 which merged it with its other acquisition LSG/Sky Chef.

Quotes

* David Rubenstein (a founder of the

) described that time to a convention of pension managers in Los Angeles last year, recalling that

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

fund raiser, Fred Malek approached him and said, ''"There is a guy who would like to be on the board. He's kind of down on his luck a bit. Needs a job. . . . Needs some board positions."'' Though Rubenstein didn't think George W. Bush, then in his mid-40s, ''"added much value,"'' he put him on the Caterair board. ''"Came to all the meetings,"'' Rubenstein told the conventioneers. ''"Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I kind of said to him, after about three years: You know, I'm not sure this is really for you. Maybe you should do something else. Because I don't think you're adding that much value to the board. You don't know that much about the company."'' He said: ''"Well, I think I'm getting out of this business anyway. And I don't really like it that much. So I'm probably going to resign from the board."'' And I said "thanks". Didn't think I'd ever see him again.' - ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Ron Suskind, ''Without A Doubt'', 17 October 2004, his uncited original source being .

References

{{reflist Airline catering George W. Bush The Carlyle Group companies