Former ATA exec faces daunting task at United By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY Right in the thick of the airlines' financial crisis, John Tague is taking= =20 on one of the most daunting jobs in the business: marketing United=20 Airlines. That job, in the midst of United's bankruptcy reorganization,=20 would be an uphill climb for any airline veteran. But it may be an even=20 bigger leap for Tague. Although he's been in the industry for 20 years and= =20 ran respected discount carrier ATA Airlines, United Airlines is a far=20 different challenge. Tague's recent appointment is the highest-profile hire= =20 yet by United CEO Glenn Tilton, himself an outsider recruited last year=20 from ChevronTexaco. His position as executive vice president/customer=20 combines an array of functions =97 sales, marketing, advertising,=20 reservations, frequent-flier programs and airline alliances =97 and elevates= =20 them to a senior level. Within United, the job was even rumored to be the=20 spot from which Tilton's successor would rise. So the choice of Tague, 40, surprised many because he came from ATA, a=20 midsize carrier best known for its discount fares to and from Chicago,=20 United's hometown. ATA, with 2002 revenue of $1.3 billion vs. United's=20 $14.3 billion, lacks a vast international route network like=20 United's. Other candidates for the job came from a larger discount airline= =20 and from other big traditional carriers like United, knowledgeable people=20 said. But either they didn't pass muster or decided against joining United= =20 now. Tague's mission at the world's second-largest airline is nothing short= =20 of monumental: help United resuscitate its brand, get out of bankruptcy=20 protection and get ahead of competitors =97 including discounters like ATA.= =20 "I certainly have a lot to learn," Tague says. "But I've been a student of= =20 this business a long time. I earned my reputation one brick at a time." Aviation consultant Mo Garfinkle, who once advised United, says, "The fact= =20 that United went outside the normal (airline) community demonstrates that=20 it was difficult to find someone to accept this position." Tague, who=20 started the job last week, grew up in an airline family. His father and=20 mother worked for Pan Am in Alaska, she as a flight attendant and he as a=20 ramp worker. His father, Irving, later moved into planning and scheduling=20 and became a founder of Midway Airlines at Chicago's Midway Airport, where= =20 ATA now has its biggest operation. Tiny Midway is about 30 miles from giant= =20 O'Hare International, United's home base. Tague dropped out of college to work in the business. He held executive=20 jobs in his 20s at Midway and later helped lead Air South and Vanguard,=20 small discount airlines that competed against major airlines and failed. At= =20 ATA, he was executive vice president of marketing and planning before=20 spending five years as CEO. He guided ATA's rapid growth in recent years=20 from a largely tour and military charter operation to a discount passenger= =20 airline with a firm foothold in Chicago. ATA's revenue jumped 63% from 1997= =20 to 2002. It courted budget-minded business travelers with irreverent ads=20 and new service between Chicago and New York, Dallas, Washington, Boston=20 and other cities. ATA and other airlines at Midway joined with the city of= =20 Chicago to transform the dreary airport into a bright and busy low-fare=20 hub. Today, more than one of every five domestic flights from Chicago=20 departs from Midway. The ATA Tague left is no fun-loving Southwest,=20 however. With new planes, business-suited flight attendants and assigned=20 seating, it has a distinct business feel. Last summer, ATA introduced=20 in-flight movies and hot sandwiches on long flights at a time when other=20 airlines were cutting back. In July, the airline was named best-performing= =20 midsize airline by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. But ATA also began posting losses last year. In August, Tague resigned,=20 after founder and majority owner George Mikelsons tried to narrow Tague's=20 responsibilities. ATA declined comment for this story. "I thought Tague was= =20 a great leader," says Blaylock & Partners airline analyst Ray Neidl. "He=20 had a good game plan getting ATA less dependent on low-margin charter=20 business, building up the hub at Midway, retiring old planes and=20 modernizing the fleet. I was sorry to see him leave." So was ATA's pilots=20 union, a fact that may have played well at United, where the pilots union=20 has a seat on the board. "He knew how to play the labor game, but he always= =20 maintained the high road," says Kevin Friel, an ATA captain and chairman of= =20 its pilots union. "His integrity was not something you questioned. I've=20 heard stories of him being on flights and getting up and serving drinks. I= =20 think he's driven, committed." At United, Tague must reshape a company with= =20 substantial advantages and difficult problems. It has a worldwide brand=20 name, five U.S. hubs and precious takeoff and landing rights at London's=20 Heathrow and Tokyo's Narita airports. It has a huge following of domestic=20 and international business travelers and a mature workforce of more than=20 70,000 employees. It's also the biggest airline ever to file for bankruptcy-court protection= =20 from creditors =97 and amid recession and slumping travel demand, its=20 successful exit from court-supervised reorganization is not assured.=20 Historically a business traveler's airline, United desperately needs to=20 regain those premium fare passengers. But it also feels pressure from=20 encroaching low-fare carriers; United estimates 72% of its passengers are=20 in markets with low-fare competition. One of its top goals is to offer a=20 product that competes with ATA in Chicago, Frontier in Denver, Southwest in= =20 California, and other discounters. It's from this world that Tague has the= =20 strongest credentials. "I think United has to be relevant in all segments=20 of the market," he says. "It has to be perceived as a good value." And=20 unlike many critics, he doesn't think United's proposal to create a=20 separately branded, discount airline-within-an-airline is a terrible idea,= =20 even if those flights operate from United's hub airports. "I think it's=20 possible," he says, to make such a plan work. One of the biggest questions about Tague is whether he can make the=20 transition to the big league. "He's in a big boat now," says Richard=20 Ziskind, ATA's former sales director. "There are lots of things to fix. But= =20 John is a very bright guy. He caught on very fast. He's open to thinking=20 out of the box." Tague argues that his experience at smaller companies will= =20 be useful at a giant bureaucracy like United. To solve problems, "You need= =20 to distill things to their simplest factor," he says. "Get rid of the noise= =20 and don't overcomplicate a problem." Tague also looks forward to shaping a= =20 new image for United: not a company struggling in bankruptcy protection,=20 but a "confident" company, a "winner." Company officials have frequently=20 stressed its improvement in passenger service. Department of Transportation= =20 figures show United was the nation's most punctual large airline in 2002,=20 for example. "They are running a fabulous airline out there every day,"=20 Tague says. "A whole lot of people underestimate this company. " *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************