As Southwest Airlines
gradually transforms AirTran Airways’ planes into its own, for Lewis
Jordan, it means letting go of a carrier he co-founded some 20 years
ago.
Jordan helped launch AirTran predecessor ValuJet, led
the airline through the 1996 crash of Flight 592 in the Everglades and
the aftermath, and served on the AirTran board up until the acquisition
by Dallas-based Southwest.
“I was the only person [on the board]
who was there from the first day we went in business until the last
day,” Jordan said in an interview after delivering a talk at an Atlanta
Aero Club meeting.
He said there were “several paths” that could
have kept AirTran a successful stand-alone airline, but volatile fuel
costs limited the options. “When you are a steward of shareholders’ life
savings and investments, you have a responsibility to protect them,”
Jordan said. “One thing you learn is you have to put your personal
feelings aside.”
In the end, the board vote was unanimous in favor of the acquisition by Southwest.
For
Jordan, the marriage with Southwest “is like marching with my daughter
on her wedding day down the aisle…. This was my baby.”
A year and
a half after the deal closed, the combination of the two carriers’
operations is still in progress, and the AirTran name is expected to
remain in some form into 2015. AirTran still had roughly 170 flights a
day from Atlanta this fall, while Southwest had about 20 daily flights.
Next
year, Southwest plans to connect AirTran’s route network with its own.
Southwest has cut some AirTran routes as it gradually dismantles the
AirTran hub in Atlanta to decrease the focus on connecting passengers.
Jordan, meanwhile, has started an organization called GratitudeAmerica, focusing on community resources for veterans.
He
said it’s “highly unlikely” he’ll rejoin the airline industry, but
added, “I can’t walk around without looking up to see if there’s an
airplane up in the air.”
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