2 DAYS AGO

Former Southwest Airlines CEO James Parker dies at 72

Claire Z. Cardona, Breaking News Producer

A former chief executive of Southwest Airlines who led the Dallas-based company following the Sept. 11 attacks died Saturday. ... James Parker, who also served as vice chairman of the airline's board of directors, died unexpectedly following dinner with friends, a spokesman confirmed Sunday. He was 72.

Parker had been in the role of chief executive only a few months at the time of the terrorist attacks, which sent the airline industry into turmoil. ... Rather than cut its workforce, Southwest kept all workers on and made a nearly $180 million profit-sharing payment to its employees in the days after the attacks.

"Our people built a house of bricks, while others had built theirs of straw. Thirty years of doing things the right way had given us the strength to do the right things during the worst crisis in the history of aviation," Parker wrote in his book, Do the Right Thing: How Dedicated Employees Create Loyal Customers and Large Profits, which was published after he retired.

In 2004, Parker, then 57, shocked the airline industry when he left. He was succeeded as chief executive by Gary Kelly, who continues to hold that position.
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Parker's death comes weeks after Southwest co-founder Herb Kelleher died at 87.