Hawaiian Airlines names president

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

After a seven-month search, Hawaiian Airlines has hired a former executive of British Airways and Belgian carrier Sabena Airlines as its new president and chief operating officer.

Mark Dunkerley is Hawaiian Air's new president and chief operating officer.

Hawaiian had been searching for a new executive since Paul Casey said in May he was stepping down from his position as vice chairman, chief executive officer and president.

Chairman John Adams, who has been serving as president, will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive officer.

Casey, who was instrumental in orchestrating the merger with Aloha Airlines that collapsed in March, left the company June 30 and said he planned to take time off.

Dunkerley was most recently Sabena Airlines Group's chief operating officer from mid-2001 until April. In 1999 and 2000 he served as president and chief operating officer at Dallas-based airport ground service provider Worldwide Flight Services. For 10 years up until 1999 Dunkerley worked as a manager at British Airways, including three years as senior vice president for the airline's Latin America and Caribbean division. His first position in aviation was as assistant to the CEO of the Miami International Airport from 1985 until 1999.

"Hawaiian is a diamond in the rough," Dunkerley said in a written statement. "This is a company with incredible human resources and brand equity that can be one of the world's great airlines."

Dunkerley will be responsible for marketing and sales as well as all operating departments, including flight operations, airport services, maintenance and engineering, in-flight catering, crew scheduling and systems operation control.

Dunkerley takes on the position during Hawaiian's ongoing replacement of its transpacific fleet with 16 Boeing wide-body aircraft, to be completed by mid-2003.

Adams said Dunkerley has a "hands-on leadership style" and a track record of improving operational and financial performance.

Dunkerley is a licensed commercial pilot, with a bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics and a master's degree in aeronautics from the Cranfield Institute of Technology in the United Kingdom.

Some employees have said the chief operating officer position is important in Hawaiian Airlines' efforts to cut costs. Hawaiian announced in late October it was cutting back its work force by 4 percent, or 150 employees, and cutting back work schedules for some part-time reservationists.