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Leadership Shake Up; Kirby to United, Isom named President 29 Aug 2016

Leadership Shake Up; Kirby to United, Isom named President 29 Aug 2016

Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:07 pm
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Leadership Shake Up; Kirby to United, Isom named President 29 Aug 2016

Robert Isom to take over as President.

Will be joining UAL in a newly created role.

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 29, 2016 – American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq:AAL) today announced that Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom will become president, effective immediately. In his new role, Isom, 52, will report to Chairman and CEO Doug Parker, 54.

“Robert is a world-class executive, and extremely well-qualified to assume the role of president,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “He has played an important role in the success American has become, including leading our operational integration and building an outstanding team. Robert is an engaging leader with a talent for growing and inspiring the colleagues around him. As president of American Airlines, Robert will do great things for our team members, our customers and our shareholders.”

Isom began his airline career at Northwest Airlines in 1991. He joined US Airways as chief operating officer in 2007 and led the turnaround of US Airways’ operating performance and reliability. He was selected to become chief operating officer of American Airlines in 2013 after the merger of American and US Airways. As president, Isom will continue to oversee the airline’s operation and assume all revenue responsibilities for the airline.

Isom succeeds J. Scott Kirby, 49, who is leaving the airline effective immediately. Kirby began his airline career at America West Airlines in 1995 and was a key member of the executive team through the 2005 merger of America West and US Airways and the 2013 merger of US Airways and American Airlines. He was named president of US Airways in 2006 and was elected as president of American Airlines in 2013.

“Scott has been a key member of our team for over 20 years. We would not be where we are today without his leadership. The more than 100,000 team members of American Airlines – most notably me – will be forever grateful to Scott,” said Parker.

Today’s management changes are the result of the Company’s Board of Directors’ ongoing succession planning process. As part of that process, and subsequent conversations regarding career expectations and the marketability of its executives, the Company concluded it would not be able to retain its existing executive team in their current roles for an extended period. As a result, the Board chose to act proactively to establish a team and structure that will best serve American for the longer-term future.

Speaking on behalf of American’s Board, Lead Independent Director John Cahill stated, “We view succession planning as one of our most important mandates. Today’s announcement reflects the Board’s commitment to ensure American has the most talented team in the business, and continues to be led by an exemplary individual who embodies the leadership qualities necessary to lead a large, complex service organization. We look forward to Doug’s continued leadership for many years to come, welcome Robert to his expanded role, and are extremely excited about the future of American Airlines.”
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:08 pm
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If only DP would eject himself too.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:09 pm
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Leadership Shake Up; Kirby off to United, Isom named President

Scott Kirby will be the new President of United.
Scott and Doug have been running HP, US, and AA together for 20 years.

My guess is Doug isn't planning on retiring anytime soon, and the CEO of United just had heart replacement surgery, so he went for the probable promotion. Totally speculation on my part though.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:31 pm
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Interesting times for sure! They have to get this airline running on something resembling a reliable basis and in a hurry.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:43 pm
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Good luck to UA PAX. Things are going to change. And not in a good way.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:48 pm
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My gut is Doug blessed this move. He has no intentions of resigning and this is his buddy's chance to be CEO in the near future.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:51 pm
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
They have to get this airline running on something resembling a reliable basis and in a hurry.

Absolutely please!
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:53 pm
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Originally Posted by morrisunc
My gut is Doug blessed this move. He has no intentions of resigning and this is his buddy's chance to be CEO in the near future.
That's definitely one of the theories going around, but I'm finding more people who view this as pretty forced ejection and not something that everyone just agreed to-- most specifically Mr. Kirby himself.

But him having landed so successfully elsewhere does make it kinda interesting. Will take a few days to really get good intel on exactly why this happened.

Originally Posted by wrp96
Absolutely please!
Many changes afoot-- many.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:57 pm
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Well if you read the WSJ article, it sounds like he was basically fired. He was asked to "transition out" of AA. Dick move by Doug.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/american...tal-1472502904
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:57 pm
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Yes AA needs to do something. This morning at MIA we left 25 minutes late because fuel wasn't put on ahead of time. Then we sat on the tarmac at PHX for 15 minutes while paxs with tight connections were stressing. I've learned no tight connections but people that are time constrained do not have three hours to hang out between connections, particularly if they have no AC membership.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 3:59 pm
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But before he left did he use the company FedEx account to FedEx a copy of the spill model to his new address?
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 4:01 pm
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Originally Posted by YtravelF
Well if you read the WSJ article, it sounds like he was basically fired. He was asked to "transition out" of AA. Dick move by Doug.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/american...tal-1472502904
Well, having read the article myself, I think that is a somewhat simplistic point of view. One could make the case, as another poster alluded to, that AA was being honest about Mr. Kirby's future opportunity at the company given Parker's relative young age. Many (most?) employees claim they desire honesty about where they stand from their bosses/employers; well just Mr. Kirby got it.

Regards
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 4:05 pm
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Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge
Yes AA needs to do something. This morning at MIA we left 25 minutes late because fuel wasn't put on ahead of time. Then we sat on the tarmac at PHX for 15 minutes while paxs with tight connections were stressing. I've learned no tight connections but people that are time constrained do not have three hours to hang out between connections, particularly if they have no AC membership.
Ummm... and this has to do with Kirby moving from AA to UA, what exactly?

I've experienced scenario's similar to what you describe long before Parker/Kirby arrived on scene at AA. Not saying I like it, but seems quite a stretch to bring this into this particular thread...

Regards
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 4:08 pm
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Originally Posted by YtravelF
Well if you read the WSJ article, it sounds like he was basically fired. He was asked to "transition out" of AA. Dick move by Doug.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/american...tal-1472502904
That's what my sources are mostly saying as well-- more and more as the day goes on. But I keep a open mind for the time being, but that's how it sounds to me at this moment.
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Old Aug 29, 2016, 4:14 pm
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
That's definitely one of the theories going around, but I'm finding more people who view this as pretty forced ejection and not something that everyone just agreed to-- most specifically Mr. Kirby himself.

But him having landed so successfully elsewhere does make it kinda interesting.
It is most possible that Mr Kirby and the C suite haven't been seeing to eye to eye for a while. When things start going sideways, you start talking more to folks in your network, and then boom... all that is left is to send the "leaving to pursuit a new opportunity immediately and we thank him for all of his efforts" email.
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