Posted on: Wednesday, August 28, 2002

Airline executive Joseph O'Gorman dead at 59

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Joseph R. O'Gorman Jr., chief executive officer and president of DHL Airways and former head of Aloha Airlines, died Aug. 10 in Illinois. He was 59.

O'Gorman began working in the airline industry as an industrial engineer for United Airlines soon after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

O'Gorman spent 14 years with United. In 1980, he left United to become senior vice president of airline operations at Air Cal.

In 1983, O'Gorman was named president and chief executive officer of Aloha Airlines, replacing Edward Swofford. Two years later O'Gorman left the airline to take the helm of Denver-based Frontier Airlines.

O'Gorman returned to United and retired in 1997 as the airline's executive vice president of fleet operations and administration. His retirement was short-lived when he was named CEO and president of DHL Airways in 2001.

O'Gorman is survived by his wife, Gail; son, Joseph III; daughters, Kelley Roth and Shannon Dunbar; father, Joseph Sr.; mother, Eileen; brothers, Andrew, Timothy, Terrence and Mark; sisters, Patricia Moore, Eileen Stoner and Joan Morrison; and two grandchildren.

Mainland services were held.