This week’s featured link:
Leahy reflects on 33 years at Airbus – Leeham News
For those who don’t know, one of the greatest salespeople the aircraft industry has ever seen is riding off into the sunset. John Leahy has had a remarkable career as the salesman-in-chief at Airbus, and he has pulled off some near miracles. Without him, it’s hard to imagine Airbus being what it is today. This column takes a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights of his career. If you aren’t familiar with what John has done, this is a worthwhile read. (Even if you are, it’s still a nice reminder.)
Two for the road:
The CEO of the oldest airline in the world explains the major mistake the industry made 20 years ago – Business Insider
I’m usually not a big fan of Business Insider, and this isn’t really an exception. But it’s still always worth reading a CEO interview, one with KLM’s boss, no less. In case you were wondering, the big mistake in this clickbait headline was NOT KLM merging with Air France. (But you know Pieter was probably thinking that anyway.) It’s just that the legacies shouldn’t have ignored the LCCs. Gee, you think?
High Flyer Interview: Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly – Airways Magazine
Like I said, it’s always good to read an interview with an airline CEO.
4 comments on “3 Links I Love: Retirement of a Salesman, Interviews with KLM and Southwest CEOs”
Leahy is a legend. I’ve read quite a bit about the origins of Airbus and the competition with Boeing. That sale of the 320 to NW was a big deal and really is the watershed that put in place the thousands of Airbus planes crisscrossing American skies 30 years later. Say what you will about Airbus, they have made some very good decisions and one of them was putting an American in charge of sales.
Hi – Will you ever do a story on flying on Fiji Airways and Aircalin Airlines from USA to Australia via there island hubs. As another way to get to SYD.
Sounds like Gary Kelly is super interested in the 737-10. A jet with greater range than their current 737NG fleet but with likely ~ 200 seats and similar trip costs. For WN, thats nuts.
I completely agree with Gary Kelly’s remarks on bag fees.