Biography|Doug Parker — Named CEO Here on 1 September 2001, Ten Days Before the Sky Closed

On 1 September 2001, at age 39, Parker became chairman, president and CEO of America West Airlines. The office was this building at 111 West Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe, finished in 1999 on the southeast corner of Ash Avenue and the parkway.

He had arrived in 1995 as chief financial officer after the airline left bankruptcy. Bill Franke rotated him through finance, sales, and operations on purpose. In May 2000 he was named president. The CEO title followed that September.

Ten days later commercial aviation in the United States stopped. America West, a mid-size carrier with its hub at Phoenix Sky Harbor, lost the demand that paid for the fleet. Financing that had been lined up fell through.

Parker went to Washington to argue for a federal loan guarantee. America West became the first airline to receive one from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board: about $380 million, finalized in early 2002. The carrier cut office jobs and closed its Columbus hub. By July 2003 it posted a quarterly profit.

The Tempe headquarters stayed the center of the later US Airways combination. On 27 September 2005 America West completed its merger with bankrupt US Airways. The surviving name was US Airways. The surviving office was this one. Parker stayed CEO.

The building is no longer an airline headquarters. Downtown Tempe lists 111 West Rio as ADP office space. The pin is the 1999 address, not a later campus.

Photo: Braboowi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Portrait: Josh Freed, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.