William Douglas Parker (b. October 31, 1961) is an American businessman who was the Chairman of

American Airlines Group American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways ...

, Inc., the parent company of

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

Early life and education

Parker grew up in Michigan and received a BA in Economics from

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Interco ...

(1984). He then received an MBA from the

Owen Graduate School of Management The Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management is the graduate business school of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1969, Owen awards six degrees: a standard 2-year Master of Business Administ ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

(1986), where American Airlines offered him a job after a campus interview.

Early career

Parker was a financial analyst at American Airlines from 1986 to 1991, where he was a member of then CEO

Robert Crandall Robert Lloyd "Bob" Crandall (born December 6, 1935 in Westerly, Rhode Island) is an American businessman who is the former president and chairman of American Airlines. Called an industry legend by airline industry observers, Crandall has been the ...

's "Brat Pack", alongside Thomas W. Horton (former CEO President and Chairman of American),

C. David Cush C. David Cush (born Shreveport, Louisiana) is the CEO of Service King, an auto repair company. Cush was the CEO of Virgin America from December 2007 to December 2016. He was named CEO on November 26, 2007, effective December 10, 2007, replacing ...

(former CEO of

Virgin America Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost U.S. airline that operated from 2007 until 2018, when it was acquired by Alaska Airlines. The airline primarily focused on operating low-fare service between cities on the West Coast and other major metropol ...

), and

Ben Baldanza Basil Ben Baldanza (born December 3, 1961) is an economist and was the chief executive officer and president of Spirit Airlines from 2005 to 2016, a period in which he led the transformation of the company into an ultra-low-cost carrier. Biogr ...

(former CEO of

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Inc. (stylized as spirit) is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin Americ ...

). Parker joined

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

in 1991 and was tasked to help create a team that would systematically figure out where the airline was making and losing money. Tracking profits flight-by-flight in such detail at that level was a first for Northwest. Parker became Chief Financial Officer of

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

in 1995 after returning to the United States, and because then-CEO

Bill Franke William Augustus Franke (born April 15, 1937) is an airline investor and a co-founder and Managing Partner of Indigo Partners LLC, a private equity fund focused in air transportation. He has been the President at Franke and Company, Inc. since 19 ...

wanted to train him to be a CEO, Parker moved around between finance, sales, and operations. Parker was named Chairman and CEO in September 2001, 10 days before the September 11th terrorist attacks. Under Parker, America West was the first of several airlines to win post-9/11 federal loan guarantees, saving the airline from a second bankruptcy.

US Airways career

America West and US Airways merged in 2005, with Parker continuing as CEO of the combined company. US Airways made an unsuccessful bid to merge with

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

as it was in bankruptcy protection in 2006, faltering as Delta rallied workers and creditors against the hostile bid. Creditors rejected the bid in early 2007. US Airways also attempted a merger with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

in 2008 and in 2010, but United ultimately merged with Continental Airlines.

American Airlines career

In 2012, US Airways launched an effort to merge with American Airlines, while American's parent company,

AMR Corporation AMR Corporation was an airline holding company based in Fort Worth, Texas, which was the parent company of American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, AmericanConnection and Executive Airlines. AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protect ...

, was in bankruptcy protection. US Airways took the unprecedented step of securing tentative contracts with American's labor groups, while AMR was still pushing to exit bankruptcy. That deal closed on 9 December 2013, and Parker was named CEO of the combined company, which became the world's largest airline. December 7, 2021,

announced Doug Parker will be retiring as the chief executive officer on March 31, 2022 while he will continue to be the chairman of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

’s board. Robert Isom, the former president of American is now the new CEO.

Personal life

Parker lives in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

with his wife, Gwen Parker, and three children. In 2007, Doug Parker pleaded guilty to his third

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

and was sentenced to 1 day in jail. After his conviction, shareholders questioned if the company should have disclosed Parker's two previous DUI arrests. He and his family are active members of

Highland Park United Methodist Church Highland Park United Methodist Church is a United Methodist church in Dallas, Texas. Location It is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, at 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75205. History In February 1916, a Methodist congreg ...

. Parker endorsed Democratic candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Additionally, in 2019, Parker donated $2,500 to Democrat Steny Hoyer.

Awards and appearances

* 2015 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Southwest region. * Commencement address at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management, 10 May 2013 * Recipient of the 2017

Tony Jannus Award The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...

for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation.

References

External links

Doug Parker Corporate BiographyPdf
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Doug Albion College alumni America West Holdings American airline chief executives American Airlines people American chief financial officers American chief operating officers Living people US Airways Group Vanderbilt University alumni 1962 births