Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until 2012, when it merged with United Airlines. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Robert Lloyd "Bob" Crandall is an American businessman who is the former president and chairman of American Airlines. Called an industry legend by airline industry observers, Crandall has been the subject of several books and is a member of the Hall of Honor of the Conrad Hilton college.
Gordon M. Bethune is a retired US airline executive. He was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2004. He formerly served on the boards of Honeywell and Prudential Financial. Bethune was known for ensuring that he received some time as a pilot when taking delivery of a new Continental Airlines Boeing 767 from Boeing and repositioning it from Seattle to Houston.
William A. "Pat" Patterson was the President of United Airlines from 1934 until 1966.
Herbert David Kelleher was an American billionaire airline businessman and lawyer. He was the co-founder, later CEO, and chairman emeritus of Southwest Airlines until his death in 2019.
Colin Marsh Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge, was a British businessman and member of the House of Lords.
Gregory D. Brenneman is an American businessman. He serves as the chairman of CCMP Capital, an American private equity firm.
Philip Murray Condit is an American engineer and businessman who was Chair and Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Boeing company from 1996 to 2003. He dramatically reshaped the company by its merger with McDonnell Douglas and relocating Boeing's headquarters from Seattle to Chicago. He resigned to take symbolic responsibility for a military procurement scandal, although he was not accused of any ethical breaches.
Thornton "T" Arnold Wilson was the Chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of Boeing corporation.
William Douglas Parker is an American businessman who is the chairman of American Airlines Group, the parent company of American Airlines. Parker previously served as chief executive officer of the airline from 2001 to 2023.
Glenn Fletcher Tilton is a retired American oil and airline industry executive. Tilton spent most of his career working for Texaco, and as CEO guided its merger with Chevron Oil in 2001. He was chairman, president, and CEO of UAL Corporation from 2002 to 2010. He stayed on as non-executive chairman of United Continental Holdings Inc., (NYSE:UAL), the parent company of the merged United Airlines, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc. from October 1, 2010, until 2012. Tilton was Midwest chairman and a member of the executive committee at JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), from June 6, 2011, until his retirement in June, 2014.
Gary Clayton Kelly is an American business executive. He is the chairman and former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines.
Juris George Mikelsons is a former airline executive and airline pilot in the United States and the founder of ATA Airlines. He was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1938 on the eve of World War II. His family fled to Germany during the mid-1940s to escape the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
Pedro Heilbron is the CEO of Copa Holdings S.A., the parent company of the Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines and the Colombian carrier AeroRepública
The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society and was first bestowed in 1964 in Tampa, Florida, U.S. Its namesake, aviation pioneer Tony Jannus, piloted the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line on January 1, 1914, the first scheduled commercial airline flight in the world using heavier-than-air aircraft. In addition to preserving the legacy of Tony Jannus, the non-profit Society also offers financial assistance to college students pursuing studies in aviation and conducts an annual essay contest for high school students to encourage careers in aviation.
David L. Calhoun is an American business executive who has been the president and chief executive of Boeing since January 2020. In March 2024, Boeing announced Calhoun will step down as chief executive at the end of 2024.
Bradley D. Tilden is an American business executive. He is the retired chairman of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Before becoming the company's CEO in 2012, Tilden served as Alaska Airlines' president, and before that as Alaska Air Group's chief financial officer. He is a commercial pilot and holds multi-engine and instrument ratings.
Richard H. Anderson is a retired American lawyer and business executive. In his early career, he served as a prosecutor and corporate attorney, before moving into executive positions. His most prominent roles were as CEO of several large companies in the transportation industry: Northwest Airlines (2001–2004), Delta Air Lines (2007–2016), and Amtrak (2017–2020).
Dennis A. Muilenburg is an American engineer, business executive and a former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Boeing, a multinational aerospace and defense company. He was CEO from 2015 to 2019, when he was fired in the aftermath of two crashes of the 737 MAX and its subsequent groundings.
Oscar Munoz is an American businessman, board member, and public speaker who was executive chairman of United Airlines from 2020 to 2021, after having been chief executive officer (CEO) of United Airlines from 2015 to 2020. Prior to his role at United Airlines, Munoz served on the board of parent company United Continental Holdings (UCH) and held multiple executive positions at CSX Corporation and AT&T.
