He’s a matter-of-fact type who chooses his words carefully. Southwest was the only major airline that didn’t lose money in the year after the terrorist attacks.Only months before, in June 2001, Kelleher stepped down as CEO after 20 years in the post.

After some—perhaps many—magical libations were consumed, King suddenly grabbed a napkin and sketched out an idea for a low-cost airline with point-to-point service between three Texas cities.

Empowered leaders in different departments weren’t talking to each other enough. Yes. So we just can’t be satisfied with these results.”And although the ways in which Kelly plans to push Southwest forward are myriad and more complicated than any spreadsheet he might have worked on back in his CFO days, as far as he’s concerned, keeping Southwest’s unmatched, un-possible streak of financial success going is nice and easy, too. On the mouth. Three years after being hired as controller in 1986, Kelly was named chief financial officer.

That shocked some analysts, who had for years said Southwest needed assigned seats to expand into new markets—particularly into bigger airports like Dulles and San Francisco International Airport, where the so-called legacy carriers dominate.So, there you go: Gary Kelly and Southwest Airlines are still stuck in their old ways, married to an outmoded model.

We’re adjusting to high fuel prices or to more competition but we’re not losing our heart and soul—and that’s the people of Southwest Airlines.” As he recalls, it was a Saturday morning flight, “and I think there were two other people on the plane besides me.

Well, verbally at least. Are we matching the growth we had in the 1990s? Dallas County is shutting down strip clubs, and some Texas teachers are not on board with the C-D-C's new guidelines. “There’s only one Herb, and Southwest is fortunate to have him as our co-founder, as our CEO for 20 years, and as our chairman today. We’ve always valued our people. Where Kelleher talks in corporate parables—insightful anecdotes flow out of him, appropriately, like bourbon pouring from a cask—Kelly speaks almost exclusively in broad strokes, with lots of data thrown in. A myth, perhaps. “One of the No.

Official headshot. Kelly, who stands 6-foot-3, was the team captain and quarterback of his high school team in his native San Antonio. But they are not the majority and are far from 100 percent.”Actually, in Southwest’s research, it broke down like this: roughly 60 percent of customers wanted some form of open seating, with the remaining 40 percent preferring assigned seating.

Kelly Has Multiple Origins. They married in 1976. Honestly, it was awkward. Married for 30 years to wife, Carol. Southwest has to look for those alternative revenue sources now.

Gary Clayton Kelly (born March 12, 1955) is an American business executive. Daughter:Elizabeth. the triangle connecting San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. Kelly insists the company is now built for speed, as the MBA kids like to say. Married for 30 years to wife, Carol. It was criticizing our new-market development entirely.

Couple met in middle school at age 13.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd of the Colorado-based Boyd Group, for one, told In a report for the Prudential Equity Group this spring, stock analyst Bob McAdoo suggested that Southwest is bleeding money on a plethora of new routes, but seems unwilling to do anything to change that. PERSONAL HISTORY: Born in 1955 in San Antonio. A business maverick. These changes were effective immediately. He is the chief executive officer and chairman at Southwest Airlines.. CEO SNAPSHOT Gary C. Kelly, Southwest Airlines’ Team Captain. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc.Southwest Airlines is celebrating 47 years of consecutive profitability—a record unmatched in the commercial aviation industry. “We’re all in sync with what our vision is for the future, and I think today we have, by far, the best management team in the company’s history.”At a news conference this past October, Gary Kelly showed that he’s not entirely a number cruncher.

Forget the new routes: Kelly thinks Southwest can leverage its brand in other profitable ways.

1 complaints that our president, Colleen Barrett, had gotten for years from customers was about the lack of assigned seating,” Kelly says.

File:Gary C. Kelly.jpg.

Where other airline executives can be deemed successes if they simply stave off bankruptcy, Kelly has to do more than just maintain profits and grow the company.

What happened to the easy-going airline of hot-pantsed flight attendants, the LUV airline?All that math and all that old mythology adds up to make Gary Kelly’s job as Southwest’s current CEO arguably the hardest in the airline industry. Singular. Executive summary:CEO of Southwest Airlines. Personal life.

He flew Southwest from San Antonio to Houston to visit Rice University, which was recruiting him for their football team. With right around 520 planes (and counting), Southwest has the second-largest fleet in the industry. And, frankly, he doesn’t want to be.“I am very comfortable with who I am and what my capabilities are,” Kelly says from Herb’s old, windowless office in Southwest’s headquarters at Dallas Love Field. “As much as anything, we’ve reorganized ourselves so that we all understand what the priorities are today,” Kelly says. “No, that’s not true,” King told me one morning over breakfast at The Mansion. - July 24, 2020 ... And a tragic discovery in Farmers Branch where the bodies of a missing mother and her two young daughters are found. Probably not.

Gary C. Kelly.

Oct.25 -- Gary Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer at Southwest Airlines, discusses third-quarter results, increasing fuel costs, and customer capacity. “We’ve seen more competitors encroaching on our space,” Kelly says. I guess everybody gets lucky once in a while.”Still, Kelly’s good fortune was tempered by a looming problem.