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Ex-United exec new Hawaiian Air trustee

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Hugh Jorgan

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Joined
Nov 25, 2001
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Is anyone else thinking: "Oh great, just what we need, a guy who helped United get to where they are"?



By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Christopher Bowers, who retired yesterday after 30 years with United Airlines, will be named the new trustee to oversee Hawaiian Airlines' bankruptcy tomorrow, sources close to the proceedings said today.

Bowers, 55, had been United Airlines' senior vice president for sales and reservations. Before that, he was senior vice president for sales and marketing.

The sources asked not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements over the search for the trustee.

Bowers will be named Hawaiian's bankruptcy trustee tomorrow by Steven Katzman, U.S. trustee for Southern California, Hawai'i, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Bowers' selection will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge.

He will be Katzman's second selection for Hawaiian's trustee in the six weeks that Katzman has been U.S. Trustee. Katzman did not return phone calls this morning seeking comment.

John Monahan, who abruptly resigned last week as Hawaiian's trustee, had been on the job only three weeks, but will continue until his successor takes over.

Bowers has two children and lives in Palatine, Ill., near United's Chicago headquarters. He did not respond to telephone calls this morning.

To take the role of Hawaiian Airlines' second trustee in less than a month, Bowers had to be released from a noncompete clause he had with United. He also had to document that he no longer has any holdings or business relationships that would exclude him from the trustee requirement of being a "disinterested person," the sources said.

They said his retirement from United was unrelated to discussions about him taking over as Hawaiian Airlines' trustee.

Hawai'i's largest airline filed for bankruptcy protection in March amid allegations of financial mismanagement directed at the company's chairman and chief executive, John Adams.
 
No, what I'm thinking is that we FINALLY have someone with some real airline experience at the top of our company.

With all apologies to the people of Hawaii, there isn't a single person in the islands with long term experience of running an airline. We are the 12th largest airline in the country, and for the past 20+ years, it's been run like a combination mom/pop store, and a piggy bank for investors to raid. The management for that period of time has been so short (and local) sighted that it's been absurd. Practicaly NO advertising anywhere on the mainland, and pitifully inept expansion plans.

Running an airline isn't like running the nearest L&L drive-in. We need people with experience, and I think that is what we got. Yes United got into a lot of trouble. Much of it came from greed from the employees, and the fact that the ESOP made them the bosses. You can be the best pilot in the world, but that doesn't make you any good at running an airline. But I think management (including Mr. Bowers) learned some good lessons from the near collapse of UAL, and won't make the same mistakes again at Hawaiian.

It's time Hawaiian was no longer treated like a third-world airline. And I think this may be the person to do it.

HAL
 
HAL said:
No, what I'm thinking is that we FINALLY have someone with some real airline experience at the top of our company.

With all apologies to the people of Hawaii, there isn't a single person in the islands with long term experience of running an airline. We are the 12th largest airline in the country, and for the past 20+ years, it's been run like a combination mom/pop store, and a piggy bank for investors to raid. The management for that period of time has been so short (and local) sighted that it's been absurd. Practicaly NO advertising anywhere on the mainland, and pitifully inept expansion plans.

Running an airline isn't like running the nearest L&L drive-in. We need people with experience, and I think that is what we got. Yes United got into a lot of trouble. Much of it came from greed from the employees, and the fact that the ESOP made them the bosses. You can be the best pilot in the world, but that doesn't make you any good at running an airline. But I think management (including Mr. Bowers) learned some good lessons from the near collapse of UAL, and won't make the same mistakes again at Hawaiian.

It's time Hawaiian was no longer treated like a third-world airline. And I think this may be the person to do it.

HAL

I just drove up I-10 from Tuscon to Phoenix and counted 3 full size billboards advertising HAL's PHX service. While in Phoenix I spotted a few others around the barrios and even through Scottsdale.

I hope this Bowers doesn't rape you guys even further. I'm sure he learned lessons from United's mistakes but... did he learn not to make the same ones or did he just learn how to hide them better? My best wishes are with you guys. I could think of a few crappy ways this could play out for ALL of us. :confused:
 
islandhopper wrote:
I hope this Bowers doesn't rape you guys even further. I'm sure he learned lessons from United's mistakes but... did he learn not to make the same ones or did he just learn how to hide them better? My best wishes are with you guys. I could think of a few crappy ways this could play out for ALL of us.


It would be hard for him to do that. If Bowers does make it in as trustee, he won't have a financial stake in the airline - he's simply there by the request of the bankruptcy court and the US Trustee to oversee our operations and get us out of Ch11.

He will be responsible for finding new sources of capital & funding, installing a new board of directors, and as such gets to pick who will be in charge later. Also, he could be in the running for the CEO position once out of bankruptcy, but that would be up to the shareholders at that time. For now, he won't have any way to make a personal profit from his operations at HA.

Jim wrote,
Our old marketing VP (she finally left thank god) used to come to the pilots lounge and tell us the most effective advertising was for the pilots and FAs to troll the terminals between flights bugging other airline's customers to come fly Hawaiian.


Yep, the old biddy used to be so enamored with the 'coconut wireless', thinking it was the best (cheapest) way for us to advertise. And when anyone questioned her techniques, she'd reply "well, do you have a degree in marketing?" I think she cost HA a BUNDLE of money over the years in lost opportunity. Good riddance.


HAL
 

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