Former CEO of Southwest Airlines and noted authority on ethically navigating through change.
SPEECH TOPICS
Successful Strategies Through Turbulence
Matching People to the Vision with Integrity & Fun
Transforming Organizations Successfully
ABOUT Howard Putnam
Howard Putnam has experienced turbulence many times in his distinguished business career. He's not only survived but thrived by taking advantage of the opportunities for change and transformation that turbulent times offer.
As the former CEO of the highly successful Southwest Airlines, Putnam led the fledgling carrier through airline deregulation and the development and implementation of the "vision" that has guided Southwest to revered heights over the past twenty years. Southwest tripled in size and tripled in profitability during his tenure, and today is still a corporate model for organizations that put their people first in their culture.
Putnam was later recruited to be Chairman and CEO of the financially failing Braniff International and became the first CEO to take a major airline through Chapter 11 successfully. It was at Braniff that he learned crisis management while rallying 10,000 employees to new heights as they fought to save their company. The reorganization was accomplished so efficiently that Harvard University used it as a model and wrote "The Ethics of Bankruptcy," a case study for ethically leading an organization through turbulence.
Currently, Putnam is Chairman and co-founder of AIR (Aircraft Interior Resources), an aircraft interior refurbishment company with plants in Houston and Knoxville serving major airlines, regional airlines and Boeing.
