Longtime leader of American Airlines steps down as chairman

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines said Thursday that Doug Parker, who served as CEO for more than eight years before stepping down last year, will step down as chairman on April 30.

The new chairman will be Greg Smith, who has worked at Boeing for over 30 years, including the last 10 years as chief financial officer.

Smith’s responsibilities at Boeing included overseeing production and quality programs during the development and deployment of the 737 Max, which was grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes. He briefly served as acting CEO following the dismissal of Dennis Muilenburg at the end of 2019.

Smith, 56, unexpectedly left Boeing in early 2021 before joining American’s board of directors in January 2022.

Parker, 61, was the CEO of US Airways when he orchestrated a merger in 2013 that put him and his executive team in charge of American Airlines, which had just emerged from bankruptcy protection.

Parker’s tenure as CEO was mostly a very lucrative period for American, but the airline was more in debt than its competitors, even before the pandemic that devastated the US travel industry in early 2020. In addition, American’s relationship with its unions deteriorated, and the federal government sued to end partnerships with JetBlue in New York and Boston. Robert Isom took over from Parker as CEO last March.

The American also announced that longtime board members Ray Robinson and Jim Albaugh will not seek re-election this spring.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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