Rollin W. King (April 10, 1931 – June 26, 2014) was an American businessman and investment consultant. He is best known as the co-founder and former

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

Background

King graduated from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

in 1955. King moved to

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 ...

in 1962. He had received an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and was working as an investment consultant. In 1964 he made his initial foray into airplane transportation, buying a local

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

company. During that time he watched with interest the growing market share of one of the nation's oldest low-cost air carriers,

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

, and became determined to create a similar operation in Texas.

Southwest Airlines

King's involvement with Southwest Airlines dates from 15 March 1967, when he and

Herb Kelleher Herbert David Kelleher (March 12, 1931 – January 3, 2019) was an American billionaire airline businessman and lawyer. He was the co-founder, later CEO, and chairman emeritus of Southwest Airlines until his death in 2019. Early life Kelleher w ...

incorporated the ''Air Southwest Company'' in Texas, with the stated intention of flying only to points within that state. Kelleher believed that by staying within Texas, the airline could avoid federal regulation. However, three airlines with bases in Texas launched legal action to keep the startup company from initiating operations, so it did not begin operations until 18 June 1971. King had hired Kelleher to provide legal representation for the nascent operation. From 1968 until 1970 King was responsible for recruiting a board of directors, writing the business plan, and raising the money necessary to fund the company's activities aimed at becoming certified by the State of Texas to provide airline service between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Lamar Muse joined the company on 1 January 1971, being named President (King remained as a company director), and the company changed its name to ''Southwest Airlines'' on 28 March of that year. Muse began hiring pilots and arranging for aircraft purchases.

After Southwest Airlines and death

King remained in the Southwest Airlines management, and was a member of the board of directors until 2006. He also served on the executive committee and audit committee during that time. In 1991 King was asked to participate in an effort to restore a Panama-owned airline,

Air Panamá Internacional Air Panamá Internacional (also known as simply just ''Air Panama'') was a state owned airline from Panama that served as the flag carrier of the country between 1968 and 1989. From its hub at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, schedu ...

. He was named Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the reworked company,AW&ST, 7 July 2014, p. 11 which had been renamed ''Air Panama International''. However, by 1993 it was evident that the effort was unsuccessful, and no flights were made by the company. King left Southwest Airlines in 2006, after which he engaged in executive education and consulting as the principal of Rollin King Associates from 1989 until his retirement at the end of 1995. During his later years he was principally engaged in private investments. King died 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 w ...

on June 26, 2014. His funeral was attended by

Gary C. Kelly Gary Clayton Kelly (born March 12, 1955) is an American business executive. He is the chairman and former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines. Personal life Kelly was born in San Antonio on March 12, 1955. Kelly received a Bachelor of B ...

, the chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines, as well as other company representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Rollin Southwest Airlines people American businesspeople 2014 deaths 1931 births Harvard Business School alumni Cornell University alumni