Travel industry chiefs hit the road after a rocky pandemic

There was a crystallising moment last year, said outgoing American Airlines CE Doug Parker, when he realised he would not be retiring from the US carrier anytime soon. He told the Financial Times that by February 2020, American Airlines had completed negotiations with one of its labour unions — the last task he had wanted to check off before announcing his retirement. Parker had held the top job at several airlines for two decades, since taking over 10 days before the September 11 2001 attacks at America West. Plans suddenly changed when reports of a dire pandemic swept the globe. As he watched then-president Donald Trump declare on television that the US would close its borders to Europe, it “was quite clear that this was much different from anything we experienced in the past”. “We hadn’t really formalised an exact transition date,” he said. “We never really got to that point, because March 2020 became a full-on crisis.” Parker finally announced his retirement on Tuesday after a delay of more than a year. American Airlines announced Robert Isom, its longtime president, would replace him on March 31. The pandemic is not over but the crisis is, Parker noted, and with passenger demand returning and American “on strong financial footing . . . it does feel like the perfect time”. American’s changing of the guard epitomises a transition playing out at other companies in the travel, leisure and hospitality sector. Executives who stayed on to guide their organisations through the depths of the pandemic are now departing. The pandemic gutted the airline, hotel and ocean cruise industries, costing the travel industry $6t worldwide as people stayed at home to comply with government restrictions meant to curb the spread of coronavirus. US airline passenger traffic fell 90% in April last year, and speculation about bankruptcy at one major carrier was rife. Companies slashed payrolls and turned to governments and the bond market for capital.<br/>